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'life-',  & I 


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*8  Poeket  Series  No.  190 


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Psycho-Analysis— 

The  Key  to  Human  Behavior 

By  William  J.  Fielding 


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People' s Poeket  Series  No  190 


Psycho-Analysis— 

The  Key  to  Human  Behavior 

By  William  J.  Fielding 


APPEAL  TO  REASON 
GIRARD,  KANS. 


Psycho- A nalysis — 

The  Key  to  Human  Behavior 

By  WILLIAM  J.  FIELDING 

Author  of  “Sanity  In  Sex,”  etc. 

Copyright,  1921 
By  William  J.  Fielding 


\Sl 

F4SP 


Introduction 

Psycho-analysis  has  a two-fold  value  which 
places  it  in  the  front  ranks  of  the  modern 
constructive  sciences.  First,  it  offers  untold 
possibilities,  which  are  only  beginning  to  be 
realized,  as  a therapeutic  or  curative  agency 
for  many  baffling  diseases.  The  ailments  to 
which  it  affords  cure  or  relief  are  not  only  ot 
the  mind,  for  it  has  been  found  that  a great 
number  of  physical  disorders,  which  hereto- 
fore have  been  considered  purely  of  an  organic 
or  functional  character,  are  merely  physical 
reflexes  of  a neurosis.  Relieve  the  mmd  ot 
these  all  prevading  neurotic  troubles,  and  ser- 
ious physical  disturbances  are  frequently  re- 

moved.  1 , , 

The  mental  disorders  alone  that  respond  to 
proper  psycho-analytic  treatment  range  all 
the  way  from  trifling  hysterical  cases  (which, 
however,  tend  to  become  more  severe  as  the 
individual  weakens  under  the  increasing  influ- 
ence of  the  neurosis)  to  “dement;a  praecox, 
a severe  form  of  insanity,  which  the  old  school 
psychiatrists  have  considered  hopeless. 

Of  course,  insanity  that  is  due  to  disinte- 
gration of  the  brain  structure,  as  sometimes 
happens  in  the  tertiary  (third)  stage  of  syph- 
ilis, etc.,  is  incurable.  Only  the  charlatan 
makes  all-embracing  claims.  And  psycho- 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


4 

analysis  is  not  magic  or  alchemy,  but  a ra- 
tional science  based  on  very  definite  natural 
laws. 

The  second,  and  in  a way  the  greater,  func- 
tion of  psycho-analysis  is  as  a cultural  study 
for  the  serf-improvement  and  development  of 
the  individual.  I emphasize  its  possible  great- 
er usefu  ness  in  this  respect  because,  after  all, 
only  a very  small  percentage  of  the  population 
is  insane,  and  while  the  victims  of  neurotic 
disturbances  make  up  a more  important  ele- 
ment of  society,  numerically,  than  is  generally 
imagined,  there  is  still  the  great  mass  of 
people  who  may  be  classed  as  “normal.” 

Psycho-analysis  has  revolutionized  our 
former  conception  of  human  behavior.  It  has 
re-interpreted,  and  thrown  a vastly  different 
light  on  the  passions,  loves,  hates,  fears  and 
other  primitive  emotions  of  man. 

It  has  revealed  in  a startling  way  many  of 
the  heretofore  inexplicable  motives  and  act- 
ions of  individuals.  The  deeper,  underlying 
significance  of  seemingly  inconsequential  ac- 
tions is  often  disclosed  to  the  analytic  observ- 
er at  its  true  value — so  far  removed  from  sur- 
face indications. 

To  the  student  of  human  problems,  whether 
social,  economic,  industrial,  psychical,  physical, 
educational,  or  what  not,  psycho-ana  ysis  is  of 
incalculable  worth.  It  leads  the  way  to  funda- 
mental causes  that  hitherto  have  shielded 
themselves  behind  an  impenetrable  screen, 
and  whose  existence  we  have  onV  guessed  at 
in  the  misleading  light  of  superficial  appear- 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  ♦ 0 

ances. 

There  is  scarcely  any  field  of  human  en- 
deavor to  which  this  science  cannot  be  made  an 
invaluable  aid.  It  is  the  key  to  an  unexplored 
region  whose  portals  we  have  just  entered.  It 
is  the  new  Lamp  of  Aladdin,  whose  light  will 
guide  us  on  the  way  to  a better  understanding 
and  re-evaluation  of  human  possibilities. 

In  the  following  pages,  I shall  endeavor  to 
give  the  psycho-analytic  interpretation  of  some 
of  the  most  common  and  interesting  revela- 
tions that  the  science  offers. 

People  realize  in  an  indefinite  way  that 
they  “take  to”  certain  individuals — that  they 
tend  to  love  or  esteem  persons  of  a certain 
type,  and  to  dislike  and  sometimes  even  hate 
another  type,  without  themselves  knowmg  the 
reason  why. 

Most  of  us  are  cognizant  of  the  fact  that 
there  are  unfortunate  people,  homosexuals  or 
perverts,  that  society  has  very  ignorantly 
gone  out  of  its  way  to  persecute  and  penalize 
because  it  has  not  understood  the  cause  of 
their  affliction.  Their  failure  to  experience 
sexual  desire  in  the  normal,  prescribed  man- 
ner has  been  considered  a deliberately  culti- 
vated or  inherently  vicious  trait,  instead  of  a 
pathological  condition.  When  the  cause  of  an 
abnormality  remains  unknown,  there  is  invar- 
iably an  irrational  reaction  to  it. 

There  was  a time  when  insanity  was  con- 
sidered a state  of  being  “possessed  by  devils,” 
and  the  victim  was  flogged  and  otherwise  pun- 
ished for  his  indiscretion  in  harboring  the 


|6  ♦ PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

damned.  Conventional  society  has  modified 
its  views,  and  now  takes  it  for  granted  that 
there  are  two  kinds  of  people  in  the  world — 
the  sane  and  insane — that  the  latter  class  is 
hopeless  and  must  be  confined  to  the  asy- 
lums until  released  by  death.  Psycho-analy- 
sis shatters  this  romantic  theory. 

It  has  been  an  enigma  to  the  student  of 
human  behavior  why  the  great  masses  of  peo- 
ple remain  so  long  in  self-satisfied  content- 
ment, often  under  the  most  oppressive  condi- 
tions. It  has  likewise  been  a puzzle  why  a 
certain  few  individuals — almost  always  an  in- 
finitesimal minority — have  always  resisted 
authority  and  oppression,  regardless  of  per- 
sonal sacrifices.  The  pioneers  in  the  radical 
and  feminine  movements,  etc.,  illustrate  this 
type.  The  martyrs  of  history  who  have  died 
for  various  causes  and  ideals  are  the  best 
known  examples  of  this  phenomenon. 

Dreams  have  been  the  subject  of  contro- 
versy, speculation  and  unlimited  commentary 
throughout  the  ages.  The  real  meaning  and 
profound  importance  of  dreams  were  never 
realized  until  Freuds  discoveries  demonstrat- 
ed their  vast  significance,  and  intimate  rela- 
tion to  our  life,  awake  as  well  as  asleep. 

Our  forgetfulness,  or  absent-mindedness, 
particu^rly  when  it  involves  a subject  or  de- 
tails with  which  we  are  quite  familiar,  is  very 
embarrassing  at  times.  Yet,  that  there  is  an 
unconscious  “motive”  in  forgetting  these  things 
that  we  know  so  well,  or  that  causes  us  to 
suffer  from  slips  of  the  tongue,  and  to  read 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  7 

words  that  are  not  there  in  sentences,  is  now 
established. 

Everybody  enjoys  wit  and  gets  satisfaction 
out  of  a joke,  particularly  when  it  is  on  the 
other  fellow.  The  significance  of  this  psychic 
manifestation  is  deeper  and  more  involved 
than  our  matter-of-fact  acceptance  of  it  has 
permitted  us  to  comprehend. 

The  atrocities  of  war,  committed  by  people 
who  are  believed  to  have  been  uplifted  by  the 
influences  of  twenty  centuries  of  Christianity, 
and  many  more  centuries  of  cultural  civiliza- 
tion, are  astounding  to  the  casual  observer. 
The  ease  with  which  a group  of  people,  indi- 
vidually peaceful  and  law-abiding,  is  trans- 
formed into  a destructive,  even  murderous 
mob,  is  seemingly  incomprehensible.  Still, 
there  are  very  plausible  reasons  for  these 
phenomena,  which  an  understanding  of  the 
new  psychology  enables  us  to  perceive. 

And  by  understanding  all  of  these  and  other 
important  factors,  which  a knowledge  of 
psycho-analysis  offers,  we  are  better  able  to 
check  and  overcome  our  individual  and  social 
shortcomings,  and  to  re-direct  our  course  along 
constructive  lines. 


Psycho- A nalysis — 

The  Key  to  Human  Behavior 

CHAPTER  i. 

THE  THEORY  OF  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS. 

Before  taking  up  the  various  questions  about 
which  psycho-analysis  offers  so  much  food  for 
thought,  acting  as  a stepping-stone  to  goals 
formerly  unattainable,  it  is  desirable  briefly  to 
outline  the  theory  of  our  subject.  This  will 
enable  the  elementary  student  better  to  under- 
stand the  new  and  sometimes  unique  terminol- 
ogy that  has  been  evolved  with  the  progress  of 
the  science,  and  to  follow  more  closely  the  log- 
ical course  of  the  analytic  procedure. 

While  this  treatise  will  not  be  based  solely 
on  the  orthodox  Freudian  viewpoint — which 
would  weaken  rather  than  strengthen  it — it  is 
necessary  to  emphasize  the  original  contribu- 
tions of  Freud.  For  without  the  findings  of 
this  great  pathfinder,  the  science  of  psycho- 
analysis might  have  lain  dormant  in  the  back- 
ground of  a slowly  evolving  psychology  for 
another  century  or  more. 

However,  the  theories  of  Jung,  Adler  and 
other  analytic  pioneers  will  be  duly  consider- 
ed, and  the  vital  contributions  of  all  co-related 
and  reduced  to  a workable,  harmonious  whole. 


10 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


It  was  along  about  1890  that  Prof.  Sig- 
mund Freud  of  Vienna,  a pupil  of  Breur  and 
Charcot,  made  public  his  theories,  developed 
from  psychic  discoveries  in  the  realm  of  the 
neuroses. 


The  Unconscious. 

The  seat  of  operations  of  psycho-analysis 
is  the  unconscious  mind.  This  is  the  field  up- 
on which  it  works,  and  the  more  we  know  of 
the  unconscious  mind  the  more  we  are  awed 
by  its  vastness. 

To  the  uninitiated,  this  may  seem  paradox- 
ical, basing  a highly  intricate  science  on  the 
unconscious  mind — which  possibly  suggests  a 
condition  of  mental  passiveness,  inaction  or  an 
unknowing  quantity.  But  the  Unconscious  is 
the  unknown,  rather  than  the  unknowing. 

In  reality,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  un- 
knowing part  of  the  mind,  because  the  mind  is 
essentially  that  part  of  the  personality  that  is 
knowing.  In  contradistinction  to  this  fact, 
the  definition  of  mind  generally  accepted  be- 
fore the  time  of  analytic  psychology  had  made 
mind  co-extensive  with  consciousness. 

But  the  psycho-analysts  have  demon- 
strated not  only  that  thinking  takes  place,  but 
that  it  goes  on  all  the  time,  whether  we  are 
awake  or  asleep. 

The  importance  and  vastness  of  the  Un- 
conscious of  a psychic  content  may  be  real- 
ized when  we  use  the  simile  of  Dr.  G.  Stanley 
Hall,  who  compares  the  mind  to  an  iceberg 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


11 


floating  with  one-eighth  visible  above  the 
water  and  seven-eighths  below — the  one- 
eighth  above  representing  the  Conscious  and 
the  seven-eighths  below  the  Unconscious.  The 
influence  and  controlling  power  of  the  uncon- 
scious desires  over  our  thoughts  and  actions 
are  in  this  relative  proportion.  Thus,  the  say- 
ing, “he  does  not  know  his  own  mind,”  is  lit- 
erally true  of  all  of  us. 

In  the  past,  people  who  suffered  from  dis- 
turbances of  this  unknown  phychic  region — 
and  they  are  among  the  most  common  of  all 
human  ailments — were  without  prospect  of  re- 
lief, unless  some  happy  and  haphazard  cir- 
cumstance should  intervene  and  unwittingly 
favor  them. 

Because  of  the  unfathomed  depths  from 
which  these  disorders  emanated,  they  were 
beyond  the  range  of  our  understanding,  and 
consequently  not  subject  to  effective  treat- 
ment. 

These  psychic  disturbances,  which  are  ca- 
pable of  indelibly  affecting  and  warping  the 
personality,  and  causing  wounds  and  conflicts 
that  are  painful  to  the  mind  and  torturous  to 
the  soul,  also  react  in  definite  physical  ail- 
ments and  symptoms  of  the  most  varied  char- 
acter. 

Psycho-analysis  brings  to  the  sufferer 
from  psychic  hurts  and  soul  wounds  his  first 
opportunity  for  scientific  diagnosis  and  cura- 
tive treatment,  and  renders  to  hun  a simPar 
service  that  surgery  does  to  the  physical  body. 
That  it  should  always  be  successful  is  no  more 


12 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


to  be  expected  than  the  invariable  success  of 
surgery;  in  fact,  less  so,  as  the  analytic  treat- 
ment requires  much  more  of  the  individual. 

The  re'ations  of  the  unconscious  mind  to 
the  conscious  mind  is  that  the  former  is  the 
psychic  reservoir  which  receives  all  the  ac- 
cumulations of  experiences  and  impressions  of 
the  personality  that  pass  through,  often  with- 
out notice,  the  conscious  mind. 

The  Unconscious  is  that  region  of  the  mind 
where  are  deposited,  and  have  been  since  birth, 
every  sight,  or  sound  that  we  have  perceived, 
and  every  feeling  that  we  have  had;  in  fact, 
everything  that  has  happened  to  us,  however 
trivial. 

The  first  five  years  of  our  lives,  for  in 
stance,  are  the  most  fertile  in  receiving  im- 
pressions and  gaining  new  experiences.  It  is 
by  far  the  most  impressionable  period  of  life. 
The  new  and  wonderful  things  that  we  have 
constantly  observed  and  the  sensations,  joys 
and  primitive  hates  felt,  are  beyond  calcula- 
tion. And  yet,  in  the  lapse  of  time,  we  forget 
practically  all  but  a few  outstanding  incidents 
that  we  had  experienced  during  that  period. 
They  are  lost  to  the  conscious  mind — but  not 
to  the  Unconscious. 

As  Dr.  E.  Hitschmann  (“Freud’s  Theory  of 
the  Neuroses”)  has  expressed  it:  “And  still 

we  know  that  our  memory  can  be  fully  re- 
viewed and  reproduced  at  no  time  of  life;  on 
the  other  hand,  psycho-analysis  has  shown 
that  the  very  impress  ons  which  we  have  for- 
gotten leave  behind  the  deepest  traces  in  our 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  13 

mental  life  and  have  become  determining  for 
our  whole  later  development.” 

The  unconscious  mental  processes  are  di- 
vided into  two  classes,  those  that  are  “for- 
gotten” on  account  of  their  lack  of  interest, 
and  those  that  are  “repressed”  on  account  of 
their  painful  or  even  shocking  nature. 

The  psychic  processes  of  the  first  group 
contain  all  as  yet  unsettled  thoughts,  or  those 
not  yet  brought  to  a conclusion,  and  while 
really  “unconscious,”  they  may  often  readily 
be  brought  into  the  conscious  mind. 

Those  of  the  second  class,  however,  are  in 
the  highest  degree  unconscious,  or,  as  it  has 
been  stated,  they  are  “unavailable  for  con- 
sciousness.” This  characteristic  led  Freud  to 
divide  the  Unconscious  into  the  “Fore-con- 
scious” and  the  “Absolutely  Unconscious.” 
The  term  “unavailable  for  consciousness,” 
however,  is  only  a relative  one,  as  it  is  the 
function  of  psycho-analysis  to  bring  to  con- 
sciousness the  processes  that  are  normally  un- 
available for  consciousness. 

Some  of  the  natural  freaks  of  the  Fore- 
conscious are  readily  observed  in  our  own 
mental  operations.  How  often  we  “forget” 
proper  names,  dates  and  general  facts  that 
are  quite  familiar  to  us!  In  the  Freudian 
sense,  they  simply  slip  into  the  upper  stratum 
of  the  Unconscious,  to  be  released  again  when 
some  association  of  ideas  in  that  region  brings 
them  to  the  conscious  mind,  or,  as  we  have  so 
often  noticed  in  our  own  experiences,  when 


14  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

they  return  to  memory  spontaneously,  as  it 
appears. 


The  Complexes. 

The  storm  centers  around  which  so  many 
psychic  disturbances  fasten  themselves,  with 
frequent  serious  physical  reactions  in  the 
form  of  chronic  disorders  and  pathological 
symptoms,  are  the  complexes. 

A complex  is  an  outstanding  idea  that 
dominates  in  the  realm  of  the  Unconscious, 
and  around  which  is  grouped  a phalanx  of 
primitive,  repressed  emotions.  It  may  con- 
sist of  painful  memories  that  have  been  ban- 
ished into  the  Unconscious.  Such  complexes 
invariably  assert  themselves  in  dreams,  and 
form  the  underlying  mechanism  of  a neurosis. 

Some  of  these,  like  hysteria  and  obses- 
sions (“Psycho-neurosis”)  are  traced  back  by 
Freud  to  erotic  experiences  in  childhood; 
hence,  to  the  influence  of  unconscious  or  re- 
pressed idea-complexes. 

Neurasthenia  and  anxiety -neuroses  (“true 
neuroses”)  are  referred  to  the  present  abnor- 
mal condition  of  the  sexual  functions  of  the 
individual.  Hysteria  is  more  psychic,  and 
neurasthenia  is  more  toxic — but  both  have  a 
sexual  basis. 

The  most  devastating  of  the  comp1exes  is 
the  Oedipus-complex.  This  has  its  origin  in 
eariest  childhood  and  consists  of  an  over-at- 
tachment of  the  son  to  the  mother,  which  in 
its  true  form  is  accompanied  by  a feeling  of 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


15 


jealousy  toward  the  father,  whose  claim  upon 
the  mother's  affections  is  resented  by  the 
young  would-be  rival. 

These  tendencies  are  often  noticed  by  par- 
ents, to  whom  this  display  of  infantile  jeal- 
ousy is  amusing.  Of  course,  they  are  una- 
ware of  the  possibilities  for  future  conse- 
quences of  a dire  nature  that  are  bound  up  in 
the  situation  if  it  is  not  normally  outgrown 
with  the  approach  of  puberty,  rather  than 
repressed. 

Considering  our  modern  customs  which 
sanction  much  coddling  of  the  child  by  its 
mother,  there  is  a trace  of  the  Oedipus-com- 
plex in  all  children  who  come  under  the  moth- 
er's influence,  but  in  normal  cases,  as  they  de- 
velop into  adolescence,  there  is  a breaking 
away  from  these  childhood  attachments. 

Other  children,  however,  never  put  aside 
these  childish  or  infantile  feelings  and  attach- 
ments, but  carry  them  throughout  life  re- 
pressed in  the  Unconscious.  These  persons 
become  neurotic,  as  the  repressed  complex  fur- 
nishes an  underlying  basis  for  psycho-neuro- 
ses and  many  abnormal  sexual  inversions. 

It  is  always  the  Oedipus  complex,  or  a char- 
acteristic trace  of  it,  which  in  adult  life  gives 
rise  to  dreams  of  death  of  one  of  the  parents, 
usually  the  opposite  parent  to  that  of  the  in- 
fantile attachment. 

Freud  calls  this  archaic  desire  in  the  soul 
of  the  male  child  the  Oedipus-complex  in  rec- 
ognition of  its  analogy  to  the  tragedy  of  King 
Oedipus  Rex  of  Sophocles,  who  was  led  by  his 


1C 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

fate  to  kill  his  father  Laius,  and  win  his  moth- 
er, Jocasta,  for  a wife. 

The  importance  of  the  Oedipus-complex 
warrants  a brief  review  of  the  early  Greek 
myth,  from  which  Freud  has  taken  the  name 
as  a symbolic  term.  Laius,  son  of  Labdacus, 
King  of  Thebes,  was  warned  by  Apollo’s  oracle 
at  Delphi  that  he  would  die  at  the  hands  of 
his  son.  When  the  child,  Oedipus  was  born, 
the  father  to  protect  himself  against  the  pro- 
phetic fate,  fastened  the  ankles  of  the  infant 
and  gave  him  to  a faithful  herdsman  to  be 
exposed  on  Mount  Cithaeron. 

The  herdsman,  ignorant  of  the  oracle,  took 
pity  on  the  child  and  gave  him  to  a shepherd 
of  Polybus,  King  of  Corinth,  and  that  ruler, 
who  was  childless,  brought  him  up  as  his  own 
son. 

Oedipus  never  doubted  his  Corinthian  na- 
tivity until  the  taunt  of  a drunken  companion 
aroused  his  suspicions,  and  he  fled  from  the 
man  and  woman  he  had  looked  to  as  his  actual 
father  and  mother.  In  a narrow  roadway  he 
met  an  old  man,  Laius,  disputed  his  right  of 
way,  and  killed  him.  Continuing  his  journey 
he  reached  Thebes,  which  was  harrassed  by 
the  Sphinx.  Oedipus  answered  the  riddle  of 
the  Sphinx  and  thus  slew  the  monster.  Thebes 
rewarded  him  by  offering  him  the  hand  of  the 
widowed  queen,  Jocasta,  his  mother,  whom  he 
married,  not  knowing  the  relationship. 

Later  a terrible  pestilence  visited  the  city, 
and  the  oracle  which  was  consulted  declared 
that  the  murderer  of  Laius  must  be  expelled 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


17 


to  bring  relief.  Oedipus,  beginning  the  search 
in  good  faith,  discovered  the  truth,  and  put  out 
his  eyes.  Jocasta,  the  mother  wife,  hanged 
herself. 

The  over-attachment  of  the  daughter  to 
the  father,  which  involves  a more  or  less  latent 
jealousy  toward  the  mother,  is  termed  the 
Electra-complex,  from  the  myth  of  Electra  of 
Euripides,  who  took  revenge  on  her  mother  for 
the  murder  of  the  husband  because  she  was  in 
this  way  deprived  of  her  father.  It  will  be 
noted  that  the  Electra  complex  is  for  women 
quite  analogous  to  the  Oedipus  complex  in 
men — so  much  so  in  fact  that  the  latter  term 
is  often  used  interchangeably  for  both  situa* 
tions,  it  being  understood  that  the  sex  of  th^ 
parent  is  the  opposite  to  that  of  the  child. 

In  the  theory  of  psycho-anaylsis,  the  dream 
is  the  true  language  and  most  natural  medium 
of  expression  of  the  Unconscious,  although  it 
should  be  emphasized  that  it  is  not  the  only 
means  of  expression.  It  is  also  the  chief 
means  by  which  the  Unconscious  may  be  pen- 
etrated. Freud  calls  it  the  royal  road  to  the 
Unconscious. 

Among  other  characteristic  manifestations 
of  the  Unconscious  are  phantasying — or  day- 
dreaming, as  it  is  commonly  called;  absent- 
mindedness,  which  causes  us  to  forget  names, 
dates  and  facts  with  which  we  are  really 
thoroughly  conversant;  mistakes  in  speech  and 
writing,  and  reading  words  that  are  not  there 
into  sentences. 

Wit  and  laughter  are  also  manifestations 


18 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


of  the  unconscious  mind,  and  are  recognized 
by  Freud  as  the  mediums  through  which  the 
Unconscious  obtains  the  greatest  amount  of 
pleasure  within  the  shortest  space  of  time. 
The  psychological  structure  of  a joke,  in  fact, 
greatly  resembles  the  psychological  structure 
of  a dream. 

As  our  civilization  is  based  upon  the  sup- 
pression of  instincts — which  is,  or  should  be, 
compensated  for  by  the  advantages  of  cultural 
and  intellectual  development — we  find  count- 
less numbers  of  people  who  have  been  unable 
to  successfully  transform  their  accumulations 
of  bound-up  energy  from  self-centered  to  social 
ends. 


The  energy  or  prime  mover  of  human  ac- 
tion which  Freud  calls  the  Libido,  is  termed 
by  Henri  Bergson  the  elan  vital,  and  by  Dr. 
Carl  Jung,  the  horme.  Other  names  have 
been  proposed,  one  of  the  best  English  equiva- 
lents, suggested  by  Putnam,  being  the  Crav- 
ing. It  is  the  Craving  for  Life,  for  Love,  for 
Action. 

When  the  libido  (to  adhere  to  the  termin- 
ology of  Freud)  is  not  adequate^  transform- 
ed into  channels  that  are  serviceable  to  society, 
or  sublimated,  as  this  process  of  socialization 
is  called,  the  result  is  a derangement  of  the 
nervous  system  and  the  psychic  structure — a 
neuroses  in  one  of  its  several  forms  or 
variations. 


The  Libido. 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


19 


The  anxiety-neurosis  may  be  the  result  of 
sexual  repression,  or  of  some  sudden  confront- 
ing with  the  facts  of  sex  (a  strong  -argument 
for  some  general  common-sense  instruction  of 
what  the  continuance  of  life  implies),  or  of 
impotent  husbands,  frigid  wives,  or  of  dimin- 
ishing potency  associated  with  increasing  lust, 
and  so  on. 

The  libido,  or  life  force,  must  have  an  out- 
let, or  play  havoc  with  the  psychic  structure, 
and  as  the  rules  of  modern  society  necessarily 
forbid  as  an  outlet  the  natural,  crude  expres- 
sions of  sensuousness  which  served  the  pur- 
pose of  primitive  peoples  in  so  many  of  their 
activities,  the  energy  turns  within,  so  to  speak, 
and  works  on  the  ego. 

As  Dr.  Hitschmann  remarks,  a dammed-up 
libido  hunts  out  a weak  place  and  breaks 
through,  expressing  itself  in  neurotic  “substi- 
tute gratification.” 

Primitive  man,  like  the  child,  is  much  inter- 
ested in  the  sensations  he  produces  with  his 
own  body;  he  is  auto-erotic.  He  squanders 
enormous  amounts  of  vitality  in  specific  sen- 
suality, wasted  energy  that  results  in  no  ben- 
efit to  the  group.  One  of  the  essential  ob- 
jects of  civilization  is  to  convert  this  dissipated 
personal  power  from  the  sensual  to  activities 
that  are  useful  to  the  herd. 

But  by  turning  wasted  energy  from  the 
sensual  to  social  uses,  we  do  not  mean  to  imply 
that  the  sex-life  of  normal  adulthood  should  or 
can  be  ignored.  This,  as  we  shall  see,  fre- 
quently leads  to  unfortunate,  or  even  disas- 


20  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

trous  consequences. 

As  Freud  says,  “the  struggle  against  sen- 
suality consumes  all  of  a young  man’s  available 
energy  at  the  precise  moment  when  he  needs 
it  to  win  for  himself  a place  in  the  social  or- 
ganization.” 

And,  again,  in  alluding  to  the  irrational, 
ascetic  tendency  of  over-sublimation,  he  warns: 
“Experience  teaches  us  that  there  is  for  the 
majority  of  men,  a limit  beyond  which  their 
constitution  cannot  comply  any  more  with  the 
‘cultural’  demands.  Those  who  are  trying  to 
be  better  than  their  constitution  permits  them 
to  be  succumb  to  a neurosis;  they  would  have 
been  better  off  if  it  had  been  possible  for  them 
to  be  worse. 

Sexuality. 

Interpreted  in  the  strictly  Freudian  sensey 
nearly  all  of  our  instincts,  emotions  and  ac- 
tions are  motivated  primarily  by  an  unconsc- 
ious sexual  urge.  It  should  be  emphasized  that 
Freud  used  the  word  “sexual”  in  a very  broad 
sense;  much  broader  than  the  conventionally 
educated  are  capable  of  comprehending  until 
after  diligent  and  painstaking  study  of  psycho- 
analytic literature,  they  finally  perceive  the 
meaning  of  this  term  at  its  true  value. 

In  a word,  sexuality  is  not  the  equivalent 
of  sensuality,  but  denotes  the  fundamental  in- 
stinct which  is  the  very  root  of  the  emotional 
life,  caPed  the  libido. 

It  thus  refers  to  the  yearning  for  love,  for 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


21 


marriage,  for  children,  for  the  affection  of  a 
parent,  etc. — all  of  a most  commendable  type, 
which  have  as  their  unconscious  biological  aim 
the  perpetuation  of  the  race. 

The  child’s  sexuality  is  at  first  auto-erotic 
(a  term  which  the  analysts  have  taken  from 
Havelock  Ellis),  or  turned  on  itself;  then  it 
transfers  or  fixes  itself  to  those  nearest  him, 
usually  the  mother  or  some  member  of  the 
family,  or  the  nurse;  and  finally,  in  the  normal 
course  of  development,  as  adult  life  is  ap- 
proached, it  transfers  it  to  a person  outside 
the  family  group — constituting  what  is  term- 
ed falling  in  love. 

Freud  emphasizes  the  point  that  the  infant 
enjoys  in  the  taking  of  nourishment  a sexual 
pleasure  which  it  frequently  seeks  to  obtain 
throughout  childhood  by  sucking,  with  rhyth- 
mic movements,  independent  of  the  taking  of 
food. 

This  sometimes  grows  to  a fixed  childish 
fault  that  continues  even  up  into  later  years. 
Often  there  is  associated  with  the  “pleasure  - 
sucking,”  a rubbing  of  certain  sensitive  parts 
of  the  body,  the  breast,  the  external  genitals, 
etc.  In  this  way  many  children  proceed  auto- 
matically from  sucking  to  masturbation. 

Jung,  in  “The  Psychology  of  the  Uncon- 
scious,” remarks:  “Sucking  still  belongs  to 

the  function  of  nutrition,  but  passes  beyond  it, 
however,  in  that  it  is  no  longer  the  function  of 
nutrition,  but  rhythmic  activity,  with  pleasure 
and  satisfaction  as  a goal,  without  the  taking 
of  nourishment.  ...  In  the  period  of  the  cjis- 


22 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


placed  rhythmic  activity,  the  hands  appear 
still  more  clearly  as  an  auxiliary  organ;  the 
gaining.of  pleasure  leaves  the  mouth  zone  and 
turns  to  other  regions.  . . . As  a rule,  other 
openings  of  the  body  become  objects  of  the 
libido  interest;  then  the  skin  and  special  por- 
tions of  that.  The  activity  expressed  in  these 
parts,  which  can  appear  as  rubbing,  boring, 
picking,  and  so  on,  follows  a certain  rhythm 
and  serves  to  produce  pleasure.  After  longer 
or  shorter  tarryings  of  the  libido  at  these 
stations,  it  passes  onward  until  it  reaches  the 
sexual  (genital)  zone,  and  there,  for  the  first 
time,  can  be  occasion  for  the  beginning  of 
onanistic  attempts.” 

The  theory  of  sucking  as  a sexual  pleasure 
is  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  the  mouth  and 
lips  are  known  as  erogenous  zones,  a signifi- 
cance they  retain  through  normal  life  in  the 
kiss. 

It  is  also  a natural  tendency  of  the  infant, 
as  well  as  the  young  child,  to  take  a keen  sat- 
isfaction in  the  sight  of  its  nude  body,  and  in 
feeling  and  playing  with  many  or  almost  all 
of  the  surface  parts. 

This  manifestation  is  perfectly  understand- 
able when  it  is  taken  into  consideration  that 
the  erogenous  zones  are  very  diversified  in 
childhood;  including,  besides  the  more  sensitive 
places,  practically  the  whole  surface  of  the 
body.  As  the  child  approaches  puberty,  the 
erogenous  zones  normally  tend  to  concentrate 
to  the  regions  of  the  reproductive  organs.  The 
inclination  of  the  child  to  glory  in  its  nakedness 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


(termed  Narcism)  is  nothing  to  be  ashamed 
of,  nor  is  the  existence  of  an  unconscious  sex- 
ual motive  a matter  to  be  horrified  over. 

The  child  should  not  be  scolded  for  this 
propensity,  as  such  treatment  leaves  an  in- 
delible impression  on  the  infant  mind,  and 
tends  to  set  up  repressions  in  the  Unconscious 
that  may  lead  to  future  mental  conflicts. 
Undue  erotic  concentration  may  be  prevented 
by  directing  the  mind  of  the  child  to  various 
constructive  activities  suitable  to  its  age  and 
development.  This  is  the  beginning  of  the 
process  of  sublimation. 

In  regard  to  sexuality  in  childhood,  Wilfrid 
Lay,  (Man’s  Unconscious  Conflict)  states: 
“The  repugnance  against  seeing  anything  of 
the  quality  or  intensity  of  adult  sexual  feeling 
attributed  to  children  under  five  years  of  age 
is  so  strong  in  most  people  that  they  have 
accused  the  Freudians  of  reading  sex  into 
everything.  The  reply  to  this  accusation  is 
that  it  is  true  that  all  excitement  is  primarily 
sexual,  but  the  word  sexual  is  to  be  understood 
in  a very  broad  sense,  and  that,  viewed  from 
the  purely  scientific  standpoint,  and  freed  from 
all  ideas  of  prurience  or  prudery,  there  is  no 
reproach  in  regarding  what  is  admitted  as  the 
prime  mover  of  human  life  and  activity  as  an 
essential  characteristic  of  all  ages  of  human 
life,  even  of  infancy.” 

When  looking  at  it  in  a rational  light,  free 
from  prudish  notions,  there  is  nothing  about 
this  predominent  sexual  urge  to  feel  ashamed 
of  or  to  apologize  for.  It  has  as  its  basis  the 


2 i PS  YCH  O-AN  ALYSIS 

one  great  object  of  race  preservation,  which, 
biologically  speaking  is  ALL  IMPORTANT. 

But  as  we  have  evolved  beyond  the  need  of 
using  practically  all  our  instincts  and  activities 
toward  the  reproductive  end,  it  follows  that, 
while  the  immediate  and  concrete  urge  of  sex 
life  must  normally  find  expression  and  grati- 
fication, the  numerous  secondary  impulses  that 
now  have  only  a vest  gial  sexual  significance, 
should  express  themselves  in  some  other 
than  sensuous  ways.  These  are  the  qualities 
of  the  libido  that  car_  be  sublimated,  and  divert- 
ed from  erotic  to  socially  useful  fields  of 
activity. 

It  should  not  be  assumed  that  because  these 
natural  instincts  have  no  longer  a specific  sex- 
ual function  to  perform  that  they  are  not  even 
now  sensually  employed,  indeed,  unless  wean- 
ed into  constructive  channels  by  the  process  of 
sublimation,  their  constant  tendency  is  to  seek 
erotic  satisfaction. 

Proof  of  this  can  be  found  on  every  hand, 
not  ony  in  the  records  of  serious  crimes  and 
petty  misdemeanors,  but  in  all  sorts  of  human 
impulses  that  are  so  common  in  every-day 
life,  and  have  such  varied  ways  of  man  Testing 
themselves,  that  their  very  universality  causes 
us  to  take  them  for  granted  as  a matter  of 
course,  without  reflecting  on  their  real  signifi- 
cance. 

A very  apt  elucidat'on  of  this  principle  is 
given  by  Dr.  William  A.  White  (Principles  of 
Mental  Hygiene) : “The  way  in  which  this 
bound-up  energy  is  freed  is  by  the  process 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  25 

known  as  sublimation.  Of  course,  the  possible 
illustrations  are  almost  infinite,  for  they  in- 
clude every  activity  of  man.  For  example,  ac- 
cording to  this  theory,  the  curiosity  which 
makes  a man  a scientist — let  us  say  m.cro- 
scopist — is  traceable  to  that  early  curiosity  in 
looking — peeping,  which  has  its  object  in  seeing 
forbidden  sexual  objects  or  acts.  The  immed- 
iate sexual  element  in  the  curiosity  is  sublimat- 
ed into  a socially  useful  purpose  to  which  the 
original  pleasure  is  still  attached,  and  for 
which  it  furnishes  the  drive.  We  know',  too, 
the  ‘Peeping  Toms/  who  still  show  this  same 
form  of  pleasure-seeking,  but  have  been  un- 
able to  advance  their  way  of  obtaining  pleas- 
ure to  a socially  accepted  means.” 

Despite  the  formidable  obstacles  that  stand 
in  the  way  of  a more  normal  sex  life  for  the 
great  masses  of  people,  Freud  sounds  the  hope- 
ful note  of  all  those  who  have  worked  toward 
an  increased  control  of  life,  maintaining  that 
degeneration  and  nervousness  are  not  in  any 
way  inevitable  results  of  cultural  progress,  but 
excrescences  that  are  to  be  avoided. 


26 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


CHAPTER  II. 


Dreams — Their  Profound  Significance. 

Interest  in  dreams  has  been  manifested  in 
all  ages  and  by  all  races  of  people.  Dreams 
have  profoundly  influenced  the  lives  of  individ- 
uals and  the  destinies  of  nations.  There  have 
been  numerous  books  written  on  the  subject 
and  countless  theories,  ideas  and  superstitions 
formulated  with  reference  to  dream  phenom- 
ena. 

But  notwithstanding  this  vast  field  that 
has  been  so  long  open  for  exploration,  study 
and  research,  it  is  only  within  comparatively 
recent  years — beginning  with  the  epochal  dis- 
closures of  Freud — that  any  real  substantial 
progress  has  been  made  in  getting  at  a true 
understanding  of  the  nature  of  dreams  and 
their  processes. 

The  reason  for  this  is  the  same  as  may  be 
given  for  the  slow  progress  in  all  fields  of 
scientific  research.  While  dreams  in  the  past 
have  been  generally  associated  with  the  fan- 
tastic, the  unreal,  the  supernormal,  when,  in- 
deed, not  the  supernatural,  they  are  now  nev- 
ertheless connected  with  a definite  science, 
and  consequently  great  strides  have  been 
made  in  recent  years  in  understanding  them. 

The  dream  is  always  the  fulfillment  of  a 
wish  or  craving  of  the  Unconscious.  On  the 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


27 


surface,  this  may  seem  like  a rash  statement, 
if  not  an  utter  impossibility,  as  we  have  all 
experienced  dreams  that  were  the  very  anti- 
thesis of  our  conscious  desires  and  repugnant 
to  our  feelings.  But  this  involves  a dual  con- 
sideration; first,  that  the  dream  represents  a 
wish  fulfillment  of  the  Unconscious — the 
crude,  primitive,  chaotic  element  of  our  per- 
sonality, and  is  most  frequently  influenced  by 
long-forgotten  infantile  impressions  and  re- 
pressions; secondly,  that  it  is  always  highly 
symbolic,  and  does  not  express  itself  in  the 
language  of  the  conscious  mind. 

To  these  essential  points  may  be  added  the 
fact  that  the  dream  is  seldom  remembered  as 
it  was  actually  dreamed.  The  version  that  is 
remembered  is  termed  the  manifest  content, 
and  the  wish  concealed  in  the  underlying 
thoughts  which  produced  the  dream  is  known 
as  the  latent  content.  The  concealing  of  this 
latent  content,  as  well  as  the  lapse  of  mem- 
ory which  accompanies  it,  is  the  result  of  a 
psychic  resistance  or  an  attempt  of  the  “endo- 
psychic”  censor  to  prevent  the  true  motive 
from  revealing  itself. 

Hence  we  have  the  symbolic  dreams,  which 
actually  have  to  be  translated  to  enable  us  to 
arrive  at  their  real  meaning.  This  is  the  func- 
tion of  psycho-analysis.  The  basic  foundation 
of  dreams  lies  in  the  wishes  of  childhood  wh'eh 
being  unattainable  were  stored  away  in  the 
Unconscious.  The  long-forgotten  wishes  have 
normally  disappeared  into  the  unconscious 
mind  because  of  psycho-sexual  development 


28  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

and  social  inhibitions. 

The  manifest  content  of  the  dream  is  pro- 
duced by  four  chief  processes  which  are  called 
condensation,  displacement,  dramatization  and 
secondary  elaboration. 

Briefly,  these  four  terms  may  be  describ- 
ed as  follows:  Condensation,  as  the  name  im- 

plies, is  the  constant  tendency  of  the  dream, 
as  remembered,  to  be  a very  condensed  ver- 
sion of  the  subject-matter  that  arose  from 
the  depths  of  our  unconscious  mind.  This  also 
includes  the  fusing  together  of  dream-thoughts 
often  resulting  in  a fantastic,  ludricous  effect. 

Displacement,  like  condensation,  acts  as  a 
potent  distorting  mechanism.  It  signifies  the 
process  by  which  psychic  importance  is  trans- 
fered  to  a given  element  in  the  manifest  con- 
tent from  quite  different  unrelated  elements 
in  the  latent  content.-  This  causes  us  to  place 
undue  stress  on  comparatively  unimportant 
details  in  the  dream,  and  to  overlook  as  trivial 
other  things  that  are  really  of  basic  import- 
ance in  the  latent  content  of  the  dream. 

Dramatization  refers  to  the  symbolic  prop- 
erties of  dream  phenomena.  All  dreams  are 
more  or  less  symbolized — most  of  them  highly 
so.  The  primary  visual  nature  of  dreams 
readily  lends  itself  to  this  characteristic  which 
has  been  called  “regard  for  presentability.” 

Secondary  elaboration  is  that  situation  in 
which  our  consciousness  contributes  to  this 
extent:  When  experiencing  an  unpleasant 

dream,  the  thought  sometimes  occurs  to  us, 
“This  is  only  a dream;  why  worry?”  Never- 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


29 


theless,  despite  this  prompting  of  our  Con- 
scious, we  still  continue  dreaming — harassed 
on  one  side  by  the  unpleasant  factor  of  the 
dream,  and  reassurred  on  the  other  that  it  is 
not  real. 

The  savage  in  the  child,  the  archaic  in 
man,  still  survives  in  us,  but  is  confined  to  that 
part  called  the  Unconscious.  It  has  not  been 
replaced  or  supplanted,  but  in  most  persons 
has  been  more  or  less  slightly  veneered  by 
the  processes  of  civilization. 

One  of  the  characteristics  of  dreams  is 
their  apparent  absurdity  or  triviality.  How- 
ever, psycho-analysis  has  proven  that  there 
are  no  absurd  or  trivial  dreams.  Every  dream 
reflects  a definite  desire  or  wish  on  the  part 
of  the  person’s  unconscious  mind,  winch  has 
an  untold  influence  over  his  thoughts  and  ac- 
tions, notwithstanding  his  conscious  ideals 
when  expressed  in  language. 

Coriat  (What  Is  Psycho-analysis?)  sums 
up  the  significance  of  dreams  and  other  man- 
ifestations of  the  Unconscious,  and  their 
value  as  interpreting  agencies,  when  he  says: 
“Psycho-analysis  presupposes  that  there  is  no 
mental  effect  without  its  cause  and  conse- 
quent1 y nervous  symptoms  are  not  chance  and 
haphazard  products,  but  are  related  to  defi- 
nite mental  processes  which  are  repressed  in 
the  pat'ent’s  Unconscious.  This  re'ation  of 
mental  cause  and  effect  is  called  determinism. 
By  means  of  the  study  of  dreams  and  symp- 
tomatic actions  and  sometimes  by  use  of  as- 
sociation tests,  psycho-analysis  traces  out  each 


30 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


sympton  in  the  patient’s  life  history.  Some- 
times these  symptoms  are  found  to  be  deeply 
buried  in  the  earliest  years  of  childhood.” 

Without  going  too  far  into  the  ramifica- 
tions of  dream  phenomena,  it  might  be  well 
to  refer  to  certain  typical  dreams,  which  are 
the  common  lot  of  practically  every  individual. 
These  are  also  notable  because  they  usually 
have  their  origin  in  infantile  impressions  or 
sexual  motives,  although  the  dream  may  be 
so  thoroughly  couched  in  symbolic  expressions 
that  no  actual  sexual  idea  is  apparent. 

There  is  the  dream  of  injury  to,  or  death 
of,  a parent  or  relative  near  and  dear  to  us. 
To  suggest  that  we  wish  them  harm  is  un- 
thinkable. This  common  type  of  dream  has 
its  basis  in  a temporary  childish  anger,  di- 
rected against  the  person  in  question,  and 
which  was  accompanied  by  the  ill-wish  that 
for  ethical  reasons  was  repressed. 

It  should  be  added  that  a child  has  a dif- 
ferent conception  of  death  than  an  adult  has.- 
To  the  former  it  merely  denotes  an  interrup- 
tion of  the  disturbing  presence  of  a person, 
or  of  his  being  out  of  the  way  for  the  time 
being.  A dream  of  this  kind  invariably  has 
its  root,  if  not  in  a true  nuclear  complex,  then 
in  an  Oedipus  tendency  which  survives  in  the 
Unconscious. 

Some  trace  of  this  can  be  found  in  every 
individual,  and  in  it  Freud  sees  a definite  in- 
cest w sh  toward  the  mother  which  lacks  only 
the  attribute  of  consciousness.  Moral  reac- 
tions subject  this  wish  to  repression  through 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


31 


the  functioning  of  the  “incest  barrier,”  an 
hypothesis  that  is  compared  to  the  “incest 
taboo”  found  among  primitive  and  inferior 
peoples. 

One  of  the  most  common  dreams  is  the  so- 
called  embarrassment  dream  of  nakedness. 
Freud  has  been  led  to  consider  this  naked- 
ness dream  as  an  exhibitionist  quality  revived 
in  the  Unconscious,  and  tiaces  it  back  to  the 
universal  tendency  of  children  to  disrobe, 
which  affords  them  great  enjoyment  and 
pleasure. 

There  is  another  type  of  dream  that  is 
not  uncommon,  and  in  a pronounced  form  is 
called  the  anxiety-dream  or  nightmare.  Per- 
haps the  characteristics  peculiar  to  this  can 
best  be  described  by  Dr.  Hitschmann  (Freud’s 
Theory  of  the  Neuroses):  “The  dream  pic- 

ture accompanied  by  anxiety  represents  the 
patient  (usually  female)  oppressed  by  a great 
and  dangerous  beast  which  threatens  to  throw 
itself  on  the  dreamer;  characteristically,  it  is 
often  a stallion  or  bull,  thus,  animals  which 
have  ever  stood  as  symbols  of  the  potent 
strength  of  animal  masculinity.  It  is  easy 
to  see  in  these  animal  figures  the  symbolized 
givers  of  sexual  gratification  forbidden  by 
conscious  thinking.  A still  plainer  symbolism 
aiming  at  this  end  appears  in  dreams  of  burg- 
lars who,  armed  with  revolvers,  daggers  or 
similar  instruments,  press  on  upon  the  dream- 
ing lady.  The  starting  up  from  sleep  be- 
cause of  such  anxiety-dreams,  one  finds  fre- 
quently in  widows  and  ungratified  women  as 


32  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

a characteristic  kind  of  disturbance  of  sleep.” 

It  has  been  remarked  that  the  field  of  sex- 
ual symbolism  is  an  astonishingly  rich  and 
varied  one,  and  that  a great  number  are 
defin.tely  recognized  as  belonging  to  this 
category.  Dr.  Ernest  Jones,  the  Canadian 
analyst,  maintains  that  “there  are  probably 
moie  symbols  of  the  male  genitai  organ  than 
ail  other  symbols  put  together.”  Thus  the 
dreamer  who  dreams  of  a snake,  a dagger,  a 
fish,  or  a bird,  in  no  way  consciously  regards 
these  objects  as  a phallic  symbol,  and  is 
usually  most  unwilling,  until  the  logic  of  the 
dream  analysis  forces  him,  to  accept  this  con- 
clus  on. 

The  symbolic  expression  of  dream  language 
bears  remarkable  likeness  to  the  symbolism 
of  ancient  mythology.  This  signifies  to  the 
student  of  psycho-analysis  that  the  Uncon- 
scious not  only  gets  many  of  its  deepest  im- 
pressions from  early  infancy,  but  that  it  has 
also  inherited  race  impressions  that  have  been 
passed  down  through  countless  generations, 
and  that  cause  us  to  live  over  aga’n  in  our 
dreams  the  ineffaceable  experiences  of  pre- 
historic ancestors. 

One  of  the  most  typical  of  this  class  is  the 
falling  dream,  an  heritage  of  the  ape-man  who 
lived  in  the  trees.  It  is  notable  in  these  fall- 
ing dreams  that  we  always  catch  ourselves, 
land  safely  or  wake  up  in  the  excitement 
whJ^h  indicates  that  our  progenitor  who 
originahy  experienced  the  shock  that  caused 
Mils  indelible  mental  impression  that  has  be- 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  33 

come  a biological  fixture,  also  caught  himself 
or  fell  to  comparative  safety,  else  the  impres- 
sion could  not  have  been  carried  down. 

The  Unconscious  dwells  in  a realm  of 
phantasy,  shuns  the  reality,  constructs  its 
indomitable  and  superhuman  heroes  (Gods), 
and  deals  summarily  and  mercilessly  with  its 
enemies.  All  the  themes  of  mythology  and 
folk-lore  have  these  common  characteristics. 
Authorities  have  attributed  the  origin  of 
myths  and  fables  to  dream  conceptions  and 
other  manifestations  of  the  Unconscious 
among  primitive  peoples. 

Thus,  Dr.  Karl  Abraham  (Dreams  and 
Myths)  says:  “The  myth  is  a fragment  of 

the  infantile  soul  life  of  the  people,  and  the 
dream  is  the  myth  of  the  individual.”  Freud 
has  stated  this  conclusion  from  his  vast  ex- 
perience in  dream  interpretations:  “The  in- 
vestigation of  this  folk-psychologic  format' on, 
myths,  etc.,  is  by  no  means  finished  at  present. 
To  take  an  example  of  this,  however,  it  is 
probable  that  the  myths  correspond  to  the 
distorted  residue  of  wish  phantasies  of  whole 
nations,  the  secularized  dreams  of  young 
humanity.” 

Even  earlier,  philosophers  have  sensed  this 
great  Uuth,  as  we  observe  from  Nietzsche 
(Human  All  Too  Human):  “In  our  sleep  and 
in  our  dreams  we  pass  through  the  whole 
thought  of  earlier  humanity.  I mean,  in  the 
same  way  that  man  reasons  in  his  dreams, 
he  reasoned  when  in  the  waking  state  many 
thousands  of  years.  The  first  causa  which 


34  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

occurred  to  his  mind  in  reference  to  anything 
that  needed  explanation,  satisfied  him,  and 
passed  for  truth.  In  the  dream  this  atavistic 
relic  of  humanity  manifests  its  existence 
within  us,  for  it  is  the  foundation  upon  which 
the  higher  rational  faculty  developed,  and 
which  is  still  developing  in  every  individual. 
The  dream  carries  us  back  into  earlier  states 
of  human  culture,  and  affords  us  a means  of 
understanding  them  better.  . . .” 

«The  symbol  as  an  expression  of  our  uncon- 
scious desires  is  not  by  any  means  confined  to 
dreams.  We  do  many  things  in  our  waking 
hours  of  a symbolical  nature,  which  satisfy 
our  Unconscious  without  consciously  under- 
standing their  real  significance.  For  instant, 
we  throw  rice  and  old  shoes  at  newlyweds 
without  comprehending  the  true  meaning  of 
the  act.  Consciously,  we  are  following  an 
old  established  custom;  but  unconsciously  we 
are  doing  something  more  important.  We 
are  giving  expression  in  a symbolical  way  to 
a wish  that  is  quite  appropriate  for  the  oc- 
casion, and  which  our  standard  of  ethics 
would  not  permit  us  to  express  in  a more 
direct  way. 

During  all  ages  and  in  the  folklore  of  all 
races,  shoes  have  been  a symbol  of  the  female 
genitals,  and  rice  (or  wheat  or  other  common 
cereal)  the  symbol  of  the  male  fructifying 
seed.  Hence,'  we  unconsciously  indicate  the 
sexual  .character  of  the  new  relationship  with 
the  normal  outcome  of  fruitfulness  or  pro- 
lificacy, which  the  conventions  of  modern 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


35 


civilization  would  not  permit  us  to  openly 
allude  to  in  a direct  manner. 

Everyone  Dreams. 

Many  people  taking  exception  to  the  Freud- 
ian contention  regarding  dreams,  assert  that 
they  rarely,  if  ever,  dream.  There  is  very 
good  scientific  grounds  for  believing,  not  only 
that  everyone  does  dream,  but  that  we  dream 
practically  continuously  during  our  period  of 
sleep. 

However,  in  the  process  of  waking  up-  in 
the  normal  manner,  as  we  slowly  gain  con- 
sciousness, the  “censor”  that  figuratively 
stands  at  the  gate  of  our  Unconscious,  subtly 
draws  the  veil  over  what  has  been  transpiring 
and  we  open  our  eyes  with  a feeling  that  our 
mind  during  the  night  has  been  free  from  all 
thought  or  effort.  Our  conscious  mind,  of 
course,  has;  our  unconscious  mind  has  not. 

It  has  been  proven  by  experimenting  with 
persons  who  claimed  they  “never  dreamed,” 
that  they  do  dream,  and  with  a little  practice, 
they  can  soon  learn  to  remember  their  dreams. 
One  of  the  best  ways  of  testing  the  accuracy 
of  the  “dreamless”  sleeper  is  to  wake  him  up 
suddenly  in  the  middle  of  the  night  or  at  a 
time  he  is  unaccustomed  to  be  awakened.  In- 
variably, it  will  be  found,  if  immediately 
questioned,  that  he  has  either  a more  or  less 
distinct  recollection  of  dreaming. 

This  is  true  if  the  sudden  waking-up  pro- 
cess occurs  once  in  the  night — or  twenty  times. 


36 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


If  a multiple  of  times,  then  it  may  be  found 
that  the  sleeper  has  experienced  a different 
dream  each  time  before  awakening.  This 
gives  strength  to  the  theory  that  we  are  con- 
stant y dreaming  of  something;  the  themes  of 
the  dream  often  rap.d.y  changing  from  one 
thing  to  another,  sometimes  blending  into 
each  other  in  an  incoherent  mass — or  con- 
stantly changing  picture  without  apparent 
sense  or  reason.  . 

The  fact,  too,  that  dreams  are  highly  sym- 
bolized, as  before  stated,  further  emphasizes 
this  impression.  When  analyized,  it  is  usually 
found  that  the  most  important  features  or 
characters  in  the  dream,  as  remembered,  are 
of  1 ttle  relative  importance.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  minor  detail  or  insignificant  fac- 
tor proves  upon  investigation  to  be  of  prime 
importance. 

Another  deceiving  feature  of  dream  phen- 
omena, which  makes  us  believe  that  we  do  not 
dream,  is  that  immediately  upon  waking  we 
are  slightly  conscious  of  some  disturbing  feel- 
ing or  annoying  mental  trend,  out  with  a 
slight  effort  pass  it  off.  Instead  of  attribut- 
ing it  to  a dream,  we  offer  ourselves  the  ex- 
cuse that  it  was  a noise  we  may  have  heard 
outside  the  room  or  that  we  had  just  dismiss- 
ed f om  mind  an  unpleasant  episode  of 
the  day  before — just  what,  we  cannot  (or  do 
not  care  to)  recall. 

By  this  half  conscious,  semi-deliberate  ac- 
tion, we  bow  to  the  will  of  the  censor  and 
“forget”  the  dream.  The  very  fact  of  the  uni- 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  3 T 

versal  “forgetting”  of  dreams  confirms  the 
existence  of  an  agency  which,  for  the  want 
of  a better  term,  is  called  the  censor. 

If  we  had  exercised  sufficient  determina- 
tion or  will  power  to  pck  up  the  thread  as  it 
passed  the  outskirts  of  our  consciousness,  we 
couM  have  resurrected  perhaps  a little  of  what 
had  preceded.  And  by  practice,  it  would  grad- 
ually become  possible  to  get  more  or  less  of  a 
logical  mental  picture  of  what  had  been  trans- 
piring in  our  Unconscious. 

However,  it  is  important  to  remember  that 
the  first  waking  impression  of  a dream  is  the 
only  reliable  or  trustworthy  recollection  we 
are  able  to  get  of  it.  If  a person,  immediate- 
ly upon  waking  jots  down  the  import  of  the 
dream  as  he  remembers  it,  and  then  later  in 
the  day  recurs  to  the  dream  of  the  night  be- 
fore, he  will  find  not  only  that  he  has  forgot- 
ten a good  part  of  it,  but  quite  likely  that  he 
will  even  give  a different  version  of  it.  This 
is  another  evidence  of  the  efficiency  of  the 
censor  in  covering  up  the  evidence  of  uncon- 
scious psychic  activity. 

The  victims  of  anxiety-dreams  (night- 
mares) however,  experience  no  doubt  about 
their  having  dreams.  In  fact,  until  the  cause 
of  the  neurosis  is  removed,  they  suffer  much 
from  d'sturbances  that  result  from  this  mani- 
festat:on  of  the  Unconscious.  The  paradox- 
ical feature  of  these  dreams  is  that  they  are 
a form  of  grat;fication — offering  a subst  tute 
means  of  gratification  to  the  unconscious  for 
the  lack  or  denial  of  a normal  form  of  obtain- 


38  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

mg  pleasure  or  satisfaction. 

In  this  connection,  it  may  be  said  that  re- 
lief is  frequently  obtained  from  these  anxiety  - 
dreams  or  nightmares  if  the  subject  is  made 
aware  of  their  true  import.  By  understand- 
ing their  symbolical  meaning,  the  shock  is  re- 
moved, even  if  the  dreams  continue  in  a milder 
form.  It  often  happens  that  when  the  person 
becomes  conversant  with  the  symbolic  signifi- 
cance of  these  dreams,  the  symbolism  no  long- 
er recurs  and  dreams  of  a sexual  nature  to 
the  ungratified,  take  place  in  an  undisguised 
form.  Consequently,  if  the  subject  is  enlight- 
ened and  encouraged  to  take  a common-sense 
view  of  the  situation,  there  is  little  distress 
felt,  and  the  shock  of  the  after-anxiety  is 
largely  removed. 

Freud  maintains  that  the  primary  function 
of  the  dream  is  to  protect  sleep  by  giving 
pleasurable  activities  to  the  unconscious  psy- 
chic processes  that  otherwise  would  tend  to 
interfere  with  sleep.  This  is  appreciated  when 
we  consider  that  the  unconscious  processes 
are  perpetually  in  action,  only  prevented  from 
entering  consciousness  by  the  influence  of  the 
censorship.  In  sleep,  therefore,  this  censor- 
ship is  lifted  allowing  the  unconscious  wishes 
to  take  the  field,  and  express  themselves  with 
abandon,  making  up  for  the  repressions  to 
which  they  are  subjected  during  waking  hours. 

The  dreams  of  children,  in  particular,  af- 
ford easy  access  to  the  workings  of  the  Un- 
conscious, because  with  young  people,  being 
less  sophisticated,  and  laboring  under  fewer 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  M 

social  inhibitions,  the  dreams  are  not  so  dis- 
torted by  an  excess  of  symbolization  as  is  the 
case  with  the  adult.  Nevertheless,  there  are 
still  countless  inhibitions  to  which  children 
are  subjected,  as  we  know  from  the  constant 
admonitions:  “ Johnny,  don’t  do  this;  Johnny, 
don’t  do  that,”  etc.  Dreams  are  the  removal 
of  sleep-disturbing  psychic  stimuli  by  way  of 
hallucinated  satisfaction. 

Day  Dreams. 

Day-dreams,  or  phantasying,  like  their  pro- 
totype of  our  sleep,  are  also  wish-fulfillments. 
They  represent  a tendency  on  the  part  of  the 
primitive  side  of  our  personality  to  retreat  or 
get  away  from  reality;  to  realize  and  enjoy 
for  a few  brief  moments  the  unattainable. 

We  have  all  “built  castles  in  the  air.”  Some 
of  us  have  soared  to  untold  heights — if  only 
to  come  down  with  a crash!  Wishes  are  as 
common  to  the  beggar  as  to  the  king— perhaps 
more  so,  as  the  former  has  more  to  wish  for 
that  would  enhance  his  condition  of  life. 

Unlike  the  dreams  of  our  sleep,  day-dreams 
are  usually  accompanied  by  some  effort;  we 
tend  to  guide  them,  although  this  tendency  in 
many  instances  may  be  more  apparent  than 
real,  as  there  is  also  the  influence  of  our  Un- 
conscious leading  us  on,  whereas  we  may  be- 
lieve we  are  directing  it. 

Day-dreams  have  both  good  and  bad  influ- 
ences. If  we  develop  the  power  to  co-operate 
with  the  unconscious  psychic  forces  and  to 


4G 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


“exploit”  them  through  occasional  use  of  the 
day  dream,  we  are  on  the  way  to  accomplish- 
ing some  worth  while  work  in  life. 

As  a result  of  reveries  or  day-dreams, 
combined  with  some  directive  thinking,  the 
poet  and  the  artist  create  their  immortal 
works;  and  the  inventor  gives  to  the  world  his 
epoch-making  mechanical  devices;  the  scientist 
discovers  natural  laws  of  the  universe  and 
utilizes  the  knowledge  so  gained  for  human 
progress;  the  ambit  ous  student  is  inspired 
and  spurred  on  to  reach  some  goal  of  construc- 
tive effort.  Such  dreams  have  resulted  in  im- 
perishable works  of  art  and  literature,  and 
great  scientific  and  mechanical  achievements, 
etc. 

The  evil  side  of  day-dreaming  is  in  lett’ng 
the  dreams  run  completely  away  with  us, 
which  in  the  nature  of  themselves  they  tend 
to  do,  instead  of  harnessing  them  to  an  object, 
or  conquering  them  for  a purpose.  Day- 
dreamers  of  this  type  are  represented  by  the 
loafer  of  all  types  and  degrees.  All  "azy,  in- 
dolent people  work  incessantly  at  this  unpro- 
ductive occupation 

The  immature  youth,  until  he  is  taught  by 
example  and  precept,  or  forced  by  c:rcum- 
stances,  is  inclined  to  cbeam  when  not  occupied 
with  play  or  work.  Naturally  the  work  is 
usually  of  a light,  diverting  nature,  and  as 
P'ay  is  an  expression  of  the  unconsc’ous 
wishes,  we  see  how  the  Unconscious  dominates 
the  child  almost  completely.  In  most  cases  it 
is  merely  a question  of  environmental  condi- 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


41 


tions  whether  he  will  dream  himself  down  into 
a loafer,  or  up  into  communion  with  the  gods 
and  become  a creator  of  something  worth 
while. 

In  other  words,  day-dreaming  in  modera- 
tion is  desirable  under  proper  conditions.  Its 
abuse  is  the  abomination. 

The  chronic  day-dreamer  that  becomes  a 
vict  m of  his  fault  is  usually  a person  who 
avoids  social  intercourse.  He  finds  his  pleas- 
ures in  dreaming,  and  he  prefers  to  be  alone 
so  that  his  dreams  may  not  be  disturbed.  Thus, 
he  becomes  anti-social.  He  flees  from  reality 
whenever  the  occasion  presents  itself — and  he 
is  always  willing  to  make  such  occasions — and 
finds  refuge  in  the  unreal  world  of  his  dreams. 
As  a result,  no  matter  how  shiftless  or  lazy; 
no  matter  how  low  he  has  fallen  in  the  social 
scale,  his  dreams  enable  him  to  realize  his  goal 
of  superiority. 

In  his  dreams  he  is  again  in  the  fairy-land, 
of  his  childhood  longings.  The  most  absurd 
desires  come  true,  and  the  dreamer  is  invari- 
ably the  favored  fairy  prince.  This  is  true 
whether  the  motif  of  his  dreams  is  clothed  in 
the  scenery  of  the  early  fairy  tales — most 
often  they  are  not — or  in  the  pictorial  effects 
of  contemporary  life.  In  any  event,  he  is  re- 
gressing to  the  infantile  level. 


42 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Unconscious  Basis  of  Wit. 

There  are  few  people  so  devoid  of  an  in- 
nate sense  of  humor  that  they  do  not  respond 
to  wit,  although  often  they  may  manage  to 
successfully  conceal  the  outward  appearances 
of  the  response.  Sometimes,  in  fact,  the  re- 
action to  the  stimuli  of  wit  may  not  be  con- 
scious at  all. 

There  is  reason  to  believe,  however,  that 
every  person  who  approaches  what  may  be 
called  a normal  mental  plane  experiences  an 
unconscious,  if  not  a conscious  response,  to 
wit,  humor,  the  comic,  the  naive,  caricature, 
etc.  And  in  those  of  abnormal  psychic  tenden- 
cies who  may  not  react  to  these  stimuli,  it  will 
be  found  that  they  accomplish  the  same  re- 
sult by  other  means — that  is,  their  unconscious 
mind  is  relaxed  by  other  forms  of  expression 
or  diversion. 

The  manifestations  of  the  various  neuroses 
in  themselves  constitute  an  unconscious  means 
of  relief — although  of  the  most  unnatural  and 
irrational  form.  They  act  as  a substitute 
means  of  gratification. 

In  behalf  of  wit,  it  may  be  said  that,  within 
bounds,  it  is  the  most  social  type  of  uncon- 
scious gratification.  Most  other  forms  are 
egotistical,  such  as  day-dreaming,  phantasy- 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


42 


ing,  dreaming  in  sleep,  etc.,  involving  only  the 
single  individual.  They  are  purely  self-cen- 
tered means  of  satisfying  the  unconscious 
mind. 

Wit,  however,  has  a decided  social  value, 
unless  of  course,  it  is  carried  to  unwarranted 
extremes.  And  it  is  primarily  among  those 
whose  unconscious  exercises  a predominating 
influence  over  their  actions  who  are  apt  to  in- 
dulge in  wit  that  tends  to  be  destructive  or 
extremely  unpleasant. 

In  the  first  place,  wit  usually  requires  a 
second  or  third  person,  and  may  involve  a 
large  audience,  as  is  the  case  with  professional 
story  tellers,  vaudeville  performers,  and  cer- 
tain other  forms  of  organized  amusement.  Of 
course,  there  are  plenty  of  instances  where  we 
smile  to  ourselves  at  jokes  that  come  to  mind, 
or  upon  reflecting  on  a witticism  that  we  had 
once  heard.  But  this,  in  reality,  is  an  ex- 
ample of  day-dreaming  into  which  we  lapse 
momentarily,  perhaps  in  the  midst  of  conscious 
mental  effort. 

Thus  the  social  value  of  wit  is  in  making 
life  pleasant  and  agreeable — sometimes  even 
when  it  would  be  quite  unbearable.  It  is  fre- 
quently invoked  under  very  trying  or  even 
tragic  circumstances.  We  have  all  heard  of 
instances  when  a grim  joke  has  been  passed 
by  some  one  in  a perilous  position. 

It  invariably  relieves  the  tension  in  a crisis 
or  at  a serious  climax.  Notwithstanding  our 
realization  of  the  desperateness  or  even  hope- 
lessness of  the  situation,  the  unconscious  re- 


44 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


lief  or  satisfaction  which  we  experience  in  a 
joke  under  these  circumstances  often  lifts  us 
out  of  an  agonizing  suspense.  If  only  tempor- 
ary, the  relief  is  nevertheless  real  and  may  be 
a valuable  psychic  bracer  to  sustain  us  in  a 
time  of  need. 

Even  in  the  presence  of  death  or  of  some 
inescapable  fate  impending,  this  tendency  is 
quite  universal.  Soldiers  before  battle,  and 
in  the  thick  of  the  fight,  are  known  to  relieve 
the  suspense  by  some  expression  of  wit,  how- 
ever grim.  And  it  is  an  established  fact  in 
psychiatry  that  soldiers  who  are  capable  of  so 
relaxing  their  unconscious  tension  are  less 
susceptible  to  shell-shock. 

Shell-shock,  indeed,  is  a form  of  neurosis 
produced  by  the  abnormal  environment,  in 
which  the  victim  is  unable  to  get  relief  of  the 
psychic  tension  over  a more  or  less  prolonged 
period.  As  a consequence,  he  develops  shell- 
shock, which  is  a neurosis  or  type  of  insanity 
that  may  be  of  almost  any  degree  of  intensity, 
as  a substitute  form  of  gratification  of  the 
self-preservation  urge.  Furthermore,  it  is  us- 
ually successful  to  this  extent:  The  attack 

makes  the  victim  useless  for  military  service, 
and  sometimes  any  other  kind,  so  he  is  sent  to 
a hospital  or  other  institution.  But  even  if  not 
at  once  removed,  he  no  longer  suffers  from 
the  agonizing  suspense  of  bombardment.  By 
a very  abnormal  process  he  has  been  relieved. 

Another  example  of  relieving  the  tension 
in  the  midst  of  death  is  the  old  custom  of  the 
Irish  wake.  This  ancient  folk  tradition  of  the 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


45 


Irish  race  makes  full  allowances  for  the  psy- 
chic needs  of  the  occasion  by  permitting  light 
story  telling,  and  other  expressions  of  a divert- 
ing nature.  The  practices  of  this  function  un- 
consciously recognize  a basic  requirement  of 
the  psyche. 

Wit,  in  substance,  is  a form  of  mental  re- 
laxation because  invariably  it  is  illogical.  And 
as  logiC  is  a development  of  the  conscious 
mind,  the  interruption  of  concentration,  or  the 
deviation  from  logical  reasoning,  affords  mo- 
mentary relaxation. 

Among  those  of  so  primitive  a mentality 
that  the  faculty  of  logic  is  at  a low  stage  of 
development  or  practically  non-existent,  then 
what  we  consider  wit  would  not  to  them  have 
the  same  significance. 

For  instance,  children  two  or  three  years  of 
age  are  prone  to  make  very  “funny”  remarks. 
The  expressions  sound  humorous  to  us  be- 
cause of  their  absolutely  illogical  construction. 
But  to  the  child,  they  are  not  funny  or  humor- 
ous, because  the  infantile  mind  lacks  the  per- 
ception to  realize  that  the  utterance  is  illogi- 
cal. This  is  the  case  of  an  unintentional  mis- 
use of  words,  resulting  in  a ludicrous  effect. 

The  child  or  person  of  primitive,  undevel- 
oped mind  laughs  at  what  he  believes  to  be  a 
joke  when  he  is  placed  in  a position  of  appar- 
ent superiority.  When  1 get  down  on  the 
floor  on  all  fours,  and  my  three-year  old 
youngster  grabs  my  coat-tails  or  rides  on  my 
back  and  b^ds  me  assume  the  lowly  function 
of  the  quadruped,  he  is  conscious  of  a feeling 


46 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


of  superiority — as  we  are  in  driving  a horse. 
The  infant  becomes  a very  superior  person  in 
his  mind,  and  this  to  him  is  the  real  kind  of 
a joke. 

Wit  is  a diverting  short-cut  from  the  stiff- 
ness and  sober  conventionality  so  constantly 
demanded  in  civilized  life.  The  whole  evolu- 
tion of  civilization  has  been  the  history  of  re- 
pressing primitive  instincts.  With  this  con- 
stant repression  and  inhibition,  there  develops 
in  our  unconscious  personality  a tension  of 
greater  or  lesser  degree.  The  ever  present 
tendency  of  the  unconscious  is  to  relieve  this 
tension.  And  anything  that  contributes  to 
this  form  of  relaxation  is  a mental  tonic.  Of 
course,  an  excess  of  tonic,  like  an  excess  of 
any  good  thing,  is  useless. 

Besides  wit,  petty  mischief  offers  a favor- 
ite outlet  to  the  youth  and  adolescent.  It  is 
the  unconscious  prompting  and  striving  for 
some  vague,  indefinite  goal  of  satisfaction 
which  makes  gang-companionship,  with  all  its 
evil  potentialities,  so  alluring  to  the  boy  en- 
tering upon  the  age  of  puberty. 

A working  knowledge  of  adolescent  psy- 
chology has  taught  us  that  a substitute  form 
of  gratification  for  the  destructive  tendencies 
of  the  gang  can  be  obtained  by  the  youth  in 
athletic  activities,  country  hikes,  woodcraft, 
etc.  These  ^diversions  offer  a healthy  outlet 
for  the  pent-up  psychic  steam  that  accumu- 
lates so  rapidly  during  this  critical  period  of 
the  boy’s  life  when  he  is  undergoing  profound 
physical  and  psychological  changes. 


47 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

Wit,  humor  and  fun  are  strikingly  in  evi- 
dence during  the  adolescent  period.  It  is  con- 
ceded for  instance  that  the  leading  college 
comic  papers,  conducted  entirely  by  youths, 
many  quite  inexperienced,  contain  better  ex- 
amples of  real,  spontaneous  wit  and  humor 
than  the  national  “humorous”  publications, 
which  have  a nation-wide  field  of  professional 
“humorists”  to  draw  from. 

When  a semi-civilized  being  or  a person 
of  very  low  mental  status  sees  calamity  be- 
fall another,  he  may  sense  a huge  joke.  It 
is  a joke,  not  because  the  accident  or  misfor- 
tune is  illogical,  but  because  it  raises  him  to 
a position  of  greater  comparative  importance. 
It  amounts  to  saying:  “You  are  down  and  I 

am  up.”  The  victim  is  now  inferior.  This 
is  immensely  pleasing  to  the  unconscious, 
which  does  not  discriminate  as  to  how  the 
measure  of  superiority  is  attained.  This  qual- 
ity is  typical,  in  some  pronounced  degree, 
among  neurotics,  as  it  is  to  a lesser  extent 
among  more  normal  persons.  We  have  all 
seen  examples  of  the  busy-body  type  of  per- 
son who  goes  around  his  or  her  circle  of  ac- 
quaintances, bringing  the  latest  news  of  mis- 
fortune that  has  befallen  some  one. Notwith- 
standing the  conscious  lamentations  that  are 
forced  upon  us,  the  eagerness  with  which  the 
oracle  unfolds  his  story  of  somebody’s  trouble 
carries  a connotation  of  pleasure  which  the 
student  of  psycho-analysis  readily  perceives. 
A very  primitive  Unconscious  is  being  grati- 
fied. 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


48 

The  characteristic  of  wit  is  its  brevity;  its 
quick  action;  its  spontaneity.  “A  flash  of 
wit”  in  its  true  sense  is  as  well  phrased  as  “a 
flash  of  lightning.”  Attempted  wit,  that  re- 
sults in  long,  studied  dissertations,  no  matter 
how  carefully  gotten  up,  is  rarely,  if  ever,  wit. 
While  it  may  sometimes  involve  humorous  sit- 
uations, there  is  seldom  present  the  character- 
istic of  wit. 

The  psychology  of  wit  takes  into  account 
the  intellectual  standard  of  both  speaker  and 
the  listeners.  SubFe  jokes  that  are  appre- 
ciated by  persons  of  keen  mind  go  over  the 
heads  of  those  with  less  perception. 

This  tendency  is  often  observed  in  vaude- 
ville audiences,  which  are  apt  to  comprise 
people  of  all  types  and  degrees  of  intellectual 
culture.  A particular  subtle  joke  is  uttered 
by  the  performer,  and  here  and  there  is  an  in- 
dividual in  the  audience  will  “get  it.”  A few 
seconds  later  quite  a large  number  will  begin 
to  snicker,  and  finally  the  ba^nce  of  the  audi- 
ence will  start  to  laugh — for  the  most  part 
because  they  have  caught  the  spirit  of  the 
occasion,  even  if  they  have  missed  the  point 
made  by  the  comedian. 

The  mother-in-law  motive  in  jokes,  which 
is  so  universally  invoked,  is  given  a deeply 
vital  significance  by  Freud  in  his  book,  “To- 
tem and  Taboo.” 

Among  men  and  women  who  have  had  few 
cuHural  advantages,  w:t  becomes  less  and  less 
subfe  and  descends  to  a lower  and  lower  in- 
tellectual scale.  Persons  under  the  influence 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


49 


of  alcohol,  that  is,  where  the  conscious  inhibi- 
tions are  partially  lifted,  may  consider  any 
lewd  remark  as  quite  humorous. 

Sex  and  ego,  as  in  dreams,  form  the  under- 
lying themes  for  most  jokes.  So  either  of 
these  tendencies  may  easily  veer  into  the 
questionable  under  the  st-muli  of  their  basic 
sources,  especially  when  the  conscious  repres- 
sions are  relaxed  by  convivial  associations  or 
the  influence  of  Bacchus. 

Some  examples  of  wit  are  so  outstanding 
in  their  excellence  that  they  remain  classics 
for  a long  time — not  for  current  usage  in  lieu 
of  the  spontaneous  variety,  but  for  better  il- 
lustrating the  characteristics  of  a prominent 
person.  These  are  usually  the  jokes  of  faulty 
logic.  Those  associated  with  the  name  of 
Lincoln  are  almost  legion.  One  attributed  to 
Wendell  Phillips  was  good  enough  to  stand 
the  test  of  t me,  as  we  occasionally  hear  it  re- 
ferred to  at  this  late  day. 

When  asked  by  a minister  why  he  did  not 
go  right  into  the  heart  of  the  South  to  save 
the  negroes  from  slavery,  the  abolit’onist,  in 
turn,  asked  the  clergyman  why  in  his  search 
for  souls  he  did  not  go  straight  to  hell.  The 
comparison  between  the  South  and  Hell  can 
hardly  stand  the  test  of  logic. 

My  old  school  master  was  a ready  wit  and 
a man  of  unusual  intellectual  attainments,  al- 
though some  of  his  personal  habits  were  rath- 
er slovenly,  making  him  quite  a picturesque 
character  of  more  than  local  prominence. 

One  of  his  petty  vices  was  chewing  tobacco, 


50 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


in  which  he  indulged  himself  out  of  school  and 
in.  One  day  the  local  Methodist  preacher,  a 
close  personal  friend,  chided  him  for  indulging 
in  so  unbecoming  a habit,  saying,  “even  a hog 
wouldn’t  chew  tobacco.”  Instantly  the  school 
master  asked  him  if  he  wouldn’t  chew  tobacco. 
The  negative  reply  brought  the  retort,  “then 
you  are  a hog.”  The  idea  of  putting  the  dig- 
nified parson  in  the  same  catagory  as  the 
hog  because  they  had  one  evident  dislike  in 
common  was  ludicrous  because  illogical. 

There  is  the  Hungary  folk  tale  which  tells 
of  a blacksmith  in  a village  who  had  com- 
mitted a crime  punishable  by  death;  the  Bur- 
gomaster, however,  decreed  that  not  the  smith, 
but  a tailor,  must  be  hanged,  as  there  were 
two  tailors  in  the  village,  but  only  one  black- 
smith, and  the  crime  had  to  be  expiated.  This 
displacement  of  guilt  from  one  person  to  an- 
other is  contrary  to  all  laws  of  conscious 
logic,  but  not  to  the  psychic  operations  of  the 
Unconscious.  So  consciously,  this  ridiculous 
idea  amuses  us. 

The  natural  sequel  of  wit  or  a joke  is  to 
laugh.  We  have  all  experienced  the  almost 
unbearable  situation  wherein  our  sense  of 
humor  had  been  touched  very  strongly,  but 
the  proprieties  of  the  occasion  made  it  imper- 
ative that  we  should  not  give  way  visibly  or 
audibly  to  our  feelings. 

As  a consequence,  we  have  had  the  painful 
sensation  of  being  choked  up  with  something 
that  should  come  out  or  express  itself.  Thus, 
we  are  under  a nerve-racking  tension,  quite 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


51 


ready  to  “explode.”  Laughter  is  the  physical 
demonstration  which  accompanies  the  response 
to  the  stimuli  of  wit,  jokes,  humor,  etc.  It  is 
the  means  of  a free  and  quick  discharge  of 
psychic  energy. 

Besides  the  common  (or  uncommon)  va- 
riety of  good-natured  wit,  there  is  also  the 
well-known  brand  of  wit  which  causes  pain  or 
chagrin  to  the  person  at  whom  the  shaft  of 
witticism  is  aimed.  The  cynic,  or  perpetrator 
of  this  kind  of  joke,  thus  exhibits  a strong 
sadist  tendency,  which  is  present  in  all  of  us, 
but  in  widely  varying  degrees.  He  causes 
pain  to  another — and  gets  pleasure  or  satis- 
faction out  of  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  those  who  good-natur- 
edly laugh  or  pass  off  a joke  of  this  kind,  are 
demonstrating  a well  defined  masochistic  ten- 
dency, which  also  is  inherent  in  everyone. 

Certain  jokes,  especially  the  so-called 
“practical  jokes”  are  frequently  of  an  intensely 
irritating  or  even  destructive  character.  The 
unconscious  mind  is  fundamentally  primitive 
and  uncultured,  and  takes  a positive  delight 
in  causing  pain  and  misfortune  to  others.  It 
craves  excitement.  And  it  is  only  our  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  years  of  human  pro- 
gress, with  the  consequent  development  of  the 
social  instincts  and  the  sublimation  of  the 
primitive  forces  in  our  individual  lives,  which 
overcome  to  a large  degree  the  destructive 
tendencies  of  the  Unconscious. 

It  is  notable  in  people  whose  altruistic  or 
social  qualities  have  had  little  opportunity  to 


52 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


develop — in  other  words,  who  are  largely  un- 
der the  influence  of  their  unconscious  mind — 
and  especially  so  among  savages,  that  they 
take  a wierd  satisfaction  in  the  sight  of  pain- 
ful experiences  of  others. 

These  atavistic  traits  are  not  uncommon, 
even  among  the  most  civilized  people,  and  are 
brought  to  the  surface  most  pronouncedly  in 
times  of  war,  thus  affording  an  opportunity 
for  the  psychic  and  physical  gratification  of 
the  archaic  qualities  of  the  Unconscious. 

This  has  led  William  James  to  suggest  the 
possibility  of  a moral  substitute  for  war,  by 
diverting  this  craving  of  the  Unconscious  to 
other  channels  of  large  physical  action,  such  as 
life  on  the  sea,  adventurous  diversions,  and 
even  work  at  hazardous  occupations,  such  as 
in  mines,  etc. 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


53 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Repressions  and  the  Neuroses. 

We  have  observed  that  the  psyche  is  the 
scene  of  a constant  and  often  intense  conflict 
between  the  more  primitive  and  the  more 
social  human  impulses.  It  is  in  the  course  of 
this  psychical  conflict  and  to  serve  its  ends, 
that  the  repressions  are  manifested. 

In  considering-  the  relations  of  cause  and 
effect  in  the  psychic  realm,  we  must  bear  one 
great  fact  in  mind,  a fact  that  should  be  quite 
self-evident,  but  which,  because  of  our  lack  of 
knowledge  of  the  Unconscious,  has  not  been 
realized,  namely:  Nothing  is  accidental  in 

the  psychic  region.  There  is  no  “chance”  in 
the  psychic  world  any  more  than  in  the  phy- 
sical. Every  effect  has  a definite  cause; 
every  cause  produces  a definite  effect. 

What  seem  to  be  accidental,  unexpected 
happenings  are  not  so  in  reality.  We  observe 
only  some  of  the  unconscious  manifestations 
without  realizing  that  they  are  logical  reac- 
tions of  some  positive  force.  Thus,  they  ap- 
pear as  something  detached  and  causeless, 
and  we  give  them  no  further  consideration. 

The  human  psychic  apparatus  produces  a 
ceaseless  flow  of  impulses  or  discharge  of 
energy  whose  aim  is  the  fulfillment  of  two 
great  principles,  upon  which  all  life  is  ground- 


54 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


ed — that  is,  the  pleasure  principle,  and  the 
reality  principle. 

The  Pleasure  Principle. 

The  pleasure  principle  represents  the  pri- 
mary original  form  of  mental  activity,  and  is 
characteristic  of  the  earliest  stages  of  human 
development,  both  in  the  individual  and  the 
race.  Therefore,  it  is  found  in  its  typical  ex- 
pression in  the  mental  life  of  the  infant,  and 
to  a less  extent  in  the  savage.  Its  main  at- 
tribute is  a never-ceasing  demand  for  immed- 
iate gratification  of  various  desires  that  give 
pleasure  to  the  Unconscious,  regardless  of 
cost  or  consequences.  Thus,  it  may  be  said 
to  be  egocentric,  selfish,  personal,  anti-social. 

The  infant  illustrates  m a very  observable 
manner  the  existence  of  the  pleasure  principle 
as  the  basic  motive  for  all  its  actions.  Noth- 
ing but  its  own  desires  concern  him,  and  he 
demands  with  unqualified  insistence  their  ful- 
fillment in  the  shape  of  food,  warmth,  petty 
attentions,  and  any  object  that  may  come  to 
his  notice. 

But  while  the  infant  offers  the  most  per- 
fect example  of  the  pleasure  principle  in  oper- 
ation, because  it  works  through  him  with  no 
disguise,  it  can  be  noted  more  or  less  promi- 
nently among  all  people.  No  individual  is 
free  from  this  trait.  It  is  of  course  good  that 
this  is  so,  or  life  would  be  more  dull  and  drab 
than  it  is  at  its  worst. 

A normal,  well  rounded  personality  is  one 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


5S 


in  which  all  the  basic  characteristics  are  pres- 
ent in  the  proper  degree,  one  balancing  the 
other,  thus  preserving  a desirable  equilibrium, 
and  fitting  one  to  face  and  grapple  with  the 
realities  of  life.  This  is  what  constitutes  a 
healthy,  adaptable  human  being. 

But,  as  we  so  well  know,  not  every  one  is 
in  this  favored  catagory.  Leaving  aside  those 
who  are  the  victims  of  so  outrageously  per- 
nicious an  environment  that  any  approach  to 
normal  life  is  impossible,  there  are  still  mill- 
ions and  millioms  of  people  in  all  walks  of 
life  who  fall  short,  some  seriously  so,  of  this 
standard. 

These  unadapted  people,  some  fitting  like 
the  proverbial  square  peg  in  a round  hole,  are 
suffering  from  exaggerated  neurotic  ten- 
dencies. They  range  from  the  mildly  hysteri- 
cal or  temperamentally  unsettled  to  the  defi- 
nitely insane.  And  notwithstanding  the  bleak 
picture  which  the  more  extreme  cases  make, 
and  which  are  unfortunate  enough  even 
when  moderately  advanced,  they  are  expres- 
sions of  the  pleasure  principle  that  has  fol- 
lowed afar  some  line  of  least  resistance. 

People  who  maintain  their  grip  on  the 
vitals  of  reality  avoid  the  alluring  pitfalls  to 
which  undue  surrender  to  the  pleasure  prin- 
ciple leads.  Where  the  temptation  is  strong, 
there  are  often  elaborate  precautions  taken  to 
escape  the  dreaded  fate.  This  is  true,  even 
when  the  exact  situation  is  not  consciously 
realized  and  when  the  precautions  are  the  re- 
sult of  intuitive  rather  than  logical  effort. 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


Primitive  man  offers  an  excellent  example 
of  this  fact.  He  has  erected  an  intricate  set 
of  taboos  to  avert  the  consequences  of  his 
fierce,  self-seeking  impulses.  He  realizes 
vaguely  there  are  inexplicable  inner  forces 
pulling  him  this  way  and  that.  He  does  not 
know  what  these  emotions  and  passions  are, 
nor  why  or  whence  they  come,  but  senses  the 
danger  in  their  dominance. 

The  so-called  “civilized”  man  differs  in  de- 
gree rather  than  kind  from  his  primitive 
brother.  He  disguises  and  distorts,  uncon- 
sciously for  the  most  part,  and  often  with 
surprising  ingenuity,  that  same  principle 
which  governs  so  largely  his  behavior. 

We  have  only  to  study  our  own  dreams, 
phantasies  and  often  unreasonable  emotions 
of  jealousy,  vanity,  etc.  and  our  tendency  not 
to  face  reality,  or  our  disinclination  to  recog- 
nize the  facts  when  they  are  displeasing,  to 
recognize  the  constant  pressure  and  frequent 
dominance  of  the  pleasure  principle  within  us. 

Thousands  of  years  of  civilization  with  the 
accompanying  development  of  cultural,  ethi- 
cal, religious  and  social  factors  and  influences 
have  done  much  to  modify  and  adapt  the 
power  of  this  pleasure  principle,  but  no 
amount  of  civilization  can  eliminate  or  crush 
this  dynamic  force. 

As  a matter  of  fact,  the  objection  is  that 
our  civilization  is  becoming  so  constantly  ram- 
ified, and  with  such  increasing  swiftness,  by 
scientific  achievements,  mechanical  inventions 
and  natural  discoveries,  etc.,  that  we  can  hard- 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  67 

ly  adapt  our  primitive,  slow-evolving  charac- 
teristics to  the  more  rapidly  changing  envir- 
onment. And  this  condition  is  intensified 
because  as  a social  unit,  we  have  preferred 
to  avoid  any  serious  discussion  or  study  of 
psychic  phenomena  so  as  better  to  cope  with 
the  problems  that  confront  us. 

The  Reality  Principle. 

The  reality  principle,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  is  the  antithesis  of  the  pleasure 
principle.  They  are  both  present  in  all  of  us 
all  the  time.  The  cond  t on  which  makes  us 
either  “normal”  human  beings  or  neurotic 
misfits  in  society,  is  largely  governed  by  the 
proper  balance  on  the  one  hand,  or  on  the 
other,  the  lack  of  relative  proportion,  of  these 
two  principles  in  our  psych’c  make-up. 

D reefy  as  they  manifest  themselves  in 
our  Unconscious,  or  indirectly,  as  in  disguised 
forms  in  the  Consc'ous,  these  two  principles 
are  ever  exerting  their  respective  influences — 
operating,  or  co-operating  with  each  other,  or 
coming  into  conflict. 

Freud  has  described  the  reality  principle 
as  hav'ng  for  its  function  the  adaptation  of 
the  organism  to  the  exigencies  of  reality — 
that  is  of  the  world  animate  and  inanimate, 
which  lies  outside  and  around  every  individual. 

It  is  evident  that  if  the  individual  were  not 
capatfle  of  acting  upon  the  reality  principle  to 
a very  large  degree  throughout  life,  he  would 
as  a consequence  be  unable  to  exist. 


58  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

He  must  realize  the  uncompromising  force 
of  sea,  air,  gravity,  fire,  wild  animals,  in  order 
to  maintain  life.  He  must  recognize  the 
claims,  needs  and  superior  force  of  his  fellow- 
men,  even  in  the  most  primitive  society  or 
community. 

Thus,  by  the  very  act  of  living,  even  with- 
out definite  instruction  to  that  end,  we  are 
gathering  consciously  and  unconsciously  a 
working  knowledge  of  the  reality  principle. 
It  is  exemplified  in  the  old  adage  of  “learning 
by  experience”  rather  than  by  hear-say  or 
being  told. 

Sometimes,  as  we  all  know,  this  is  a very 
painful  way  of  learning,  although  its  effect- 
iveness is  unquestioned.  The  child  who  puts 
his  hand  on  a hot  stove  is  learning  by  a very 
drastic  method  to  adapt  himself  to  reality. 

The  writer  once  saw  a bright,  eight-year 
old  youngster  attempt  to  walk  quickly  over 
the  water  as  the  row-boat  he  was  in  neared 
the  shore.  Although  it  was  only  the  equiv- 
alent of  four  or  five  short  steps,  the  youth 
got  a rather  sudden  and  aqueous  awakening 
to  a certain  phase  of  the  reality  principle. 
This  was  obviously  a perfect  illustration  of 
the  unconscious  in  action,  as  consciously  he 
knew  that  it  is  impossible  to  walk  on  the 
water,  but  he  was  seized  with  an  inexplicable 
“impulse.” 

The  development  of  the  reality  principle 
is  through  the  channels  of  reason.  Those  who 
are  of  the  most  logical,  rational  turn  of  mind 
best  exemplify  the  reality  principle. 


PSYCHOANALYSIS 

This  principle  is  expressed  in  directed 
thinking,  in  contrast  to  the  phantasying  and 
intuitive  expressions  of  the  pleasure  principle. 

People  who  have  a high  degree  of  intuit  on 
may  be  said  to  be  under  the  influence  of  their 
Unconscious  to  a greater  extent  than  those 
who  are  not  so  intuitive  in  their  decisions  and 
actions.  In  many  respects,  this  is  a valuable 
asset,  when  co-ordinated  with  a discriminating 
Conscious,  which  acts  as  a regulator  in  pre- 
vent'ng  undue  extremes  in  manifestations  of 
the  Unconscious. 

It  is  the  inevitable  conflict  between  these 
two  great  principles  in  our  psychic  make-up 
which  is  the  cause  of  repressions.  And  re- 
pressions which  become  so  severe  that  they 
cause  serious  disharmony  in  our  Unconscious 
result  in  a neurosis. 

In  considering  the  curative  value  of  the 
psycho-analysis,  it  is  well  to  remember  that 
conflicts  are  present  in  all  of  us.  This  is  as- 
sured by  the  fact  that  we  are  all  endowed, 
more  or  less,  with  primitive  passions  and  cer- 
tain instinctive  desires,  and  these  tend  inevit- 
ably to  conflict  with  the  social  and  ethical 
standards  to  which  we  consciously  subscribe. 

Therefore,  there  are  neurotic  strains  and 
tendencies  in  every  individual,  which  the  most 
rat:onal  of  us  demonstrate  at  times  in  littne 
temperamental  outbursts,  in  streaks  of  un- 
reasonableness, and  even  physical  indisposi- 
tions that  are  the  positive  reactions  of  a 
neurosis,  incipient  or  chronic. 

When  we  realize  that  a neurosis,  slight  or 


60 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


severe,  and  many  of  the  incipient  forms  of 
insanity,  reflect  a lack  of  harmony  in  the 
psychic  mechanism,  instead  of  being  some 
mysterious,  far-fetched  visitations  of  fate,  we 
begin  to  see  the  possibilities  of  remedying 
the  situation.  This  is  especially  so  when  we 
consider  that  every  “normal”  person  experi- 
ences the  same  tendencies  in  a light  form, 
which  contribute  to  the  function  of  a neurosis 
and  insanity. 

Physical  Effects  of  Neuroses. 

To  thoroughly  appreciate  the  widespread 
effects  of  neurotic  tendencies,  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  scan  the  list  of  physical  ailments  and 
symptoms  that  may  be  due  to  unconscious 
ideas  that  unduly  influence  our  conduct. 

Dr.  William  A.  White  in  his  “Principles  of 
Mental  Hygiene”  states:  “The  number  and 

duration  of  physical  and  apparently  physical 
disorders  which  may  originate  at  the  psycho- 
logical level  is  endless.  It  includes  many 
forms  of  asthma,  sore  throat,  difficult  nasal 
breathing,  stammering,  headache,  neuras- 
thenia, backache,  tender  spine,  ‘weak  heart/ 
faint  attacks,  exophthalmic  goitre,  (Graves  or 
Basedow's  disease),  aphonia,  spasmodic  sneez- 
ing, hiccough,  rapid  respiration,  hay  fever, 
gastro-intestinal  disturbances,  (constipation, 
diarrhoea,  indigestion,  colites,  ulcer  of  stom- 
ach), ptosis  of  kidney,  diabetes,  disturbances 
of  urination,  polyuria,  incontinence,  precipit- 
ancy, menstrual  disorders,  auto-intoxication, 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


61 


(from  long  digestive  disturbances),  nutritional 
disorders  of  skin,  teeth  and  hair,  etc.” 

Dr.  E.  J.  Kempf,  in  “The  Automonic  Func- 
tions and  the  Personality”  gives  the  following 
list  of  derangements  that  may  be  caused  by 
the  repression  of  intense  affections  or  desires: 
Loss  of  appetite,  gastric  irritalibility,  ten- 
dency to  nausea,  and  vomiting,  diarrhoea, 
dyspnea,  headaches,  cardiac  palpitation  blush- 
ing, disturbances  of  the  menses,  insomonia, 
general  hypochondriacal  complaints,  eccentric 
physical  attitudes,  and  long,  enduring  gross 
psychoneurotic  derangements. 

It  should  be  emphasized,  however,  that 
while  any  of  these  disturbances  may  be  of 
psychogenic  origin,  no  reputable  psycho-an- 
alyst would  claim  they  are  always  due  to 
this  basic  cause. 

After  soberly  considering  this  formidable 
agglomeration  of  possibilities  from  repres- 
sions. in  the  Unconscious — the  very  existence 
of  which  the  overwhelming  majority  of  people 
are  in  ignorance — we  should  see  the  necessity 
for  some  rational  understanding  of,  and  in- 
sight into,  our  psychic  processes — particularly 
the  unconscious  ones.  - 

The  modification  of  the  elemental  urges 
and  wishes  and  their  adaptation  to  the  real- 
ities of  environment  is  a long,  difficult  and 
panful  process.  Beginning  with  the  infant 
life,  thoroughly  bound  up  in  its  egocentric  ac- 
tivities, and  progressing  through  childhood 
which  is  dominated  by  primitive  emotions,  we 
finally  reach  adulthood  in  years,  but  still  in- 


62 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


fluenced  profoundly  by  primitive  impulses 
and  modes  of  thought. 

In  fact  a large  percentage  of  people  never 
grow  up  psychologically  and  emotionally,  but 
remain  at  an  infantile,  or  at  the  most,  an  adol- 
escent level  in  these  respects. 

Low  Mental  Average  Among  Adults. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  in  this  connec- 
tion very  significant  statistics  gathered  by 
the  Surgeon  General  of  the  American  Army 
during  the  World  War,  of  men  drafted  in 
1918.*  Elaborate  tests  were  made  attempt- 
ing to  “size  up”  the  brain  power  of  the  sol- 
diers, irrespective  of  education.  For  instance, 
children  under  the  age  of  five  seldom  can 
learn  to  tell  time  on  a clock,  but  practically 
all  normal  children  can  learn  to  do  so  before 
they  are  over  the  age  of  six.  There  are  other 
analogous  problems  or  tests  which  children 
five  or  six  can  do,  but  which  they  cannot  do 
if  they  are  younger. 

As  an  example,  it  is  found  that  the  normal 
child  of  five  can  name  the  four  primary  col- 
ors, even  if  never  taught  them.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  grown  people  are  so  deficient  in 
mental  power  that,  a' though  they  can  dress 
themselves  and  do  many  kinds  of  every-day 
work,  they  can  never  learn  to  tell  time  by  the 


*Army  Mental  Tests  (Surgeon  General) 
Washington,  D.  C.,  Nov.  22,  1919. 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


63 


clock  or  do  the  other  five  year-old  tests.  Such 
people  are  said  to  have  a “mental  age”  of 
under  five — that  is,  they  have  the  potential 
brain  power  of  a child  under  five. 

Similar  tests  have  been  devised  for  other 
ages.  For  example,  the  normal  child  of  eleven 
can  detect  absurdities  in  sentences;  can  de- 
fine three  out  of  five  abstract  words,  “pity, 
revenge,  charity,  justice,  envy;”  can  repeat 
backwardly  five  digits  given  orally;  can  inter- 
pret fables,  etc. 

The  Surgeon  General  divided  the  mental 
age  of  many  thousands  of  drafted  men  ac- 
cording to  their  occupation.  He  thought  the 
“average”  would  be  misleading,  so  instead  of 
finding  the  average,  he  omitted  from  each 
occupation  one  quarter  of  the  men  having  the 
lowest  mental  age,  or  brain  power,  and  also 
the  quarter  having  the  highest  brain  power. 
The  men  who  remained  were  the  middle  half. 

Now,  after  dividing  these  men  into  some 
seventy -four  occupational  groups,  they  were 
classified  into  seven  grades  of  brain  power, 
instead  of  using  the  literal  term  “mental  age.” 
The  result  was  as  follows: 

A.  Very  Superior  Intelligence.  This 
grade  was  ordinarily  reached  by  only  four  or 
five  per  cent  of  a draft  quota.  It  was  com- 
posed of  men  of  marked  intellectuality,  with 
the  ability  to  make  a superior  record  in  col- 
lege or  university. 

B.  Superior  Intelligence.  Less  exception- 
al than  that  represented  by  “A,”  and  was  ob- 
tained by  eight  to  ten  per  cent  of  the  draft. 


64  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

Men  of  this  grade  are  capable  of  making  an 
average  record  in  college. 

C.  High  Average  Intelligence.  This  group 
included  about  fifteen  to  eighteen  per  cent  of 
the  draft.  Can  not  do  so  well  as  “B,”  but 
contained  some  men  with  capacity  for  leader- 
ship and  power  to  command. 

C.  Average  Intelligence.  Included  about 
twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  drafted  men. 
These  men  are  rarely  capable  of  graduating 
from  a high  school.  They  are  of  a grade  that 
is  said  to  make  “excellent  privates”  in  the 
army.  Their  “mental  age”  may  be  put  at 
about  fourteen. 

C.  Low  Average  Intelligence.  These  men 
make  up  about  twenty  per  cent  of  the  draft, 
and  were  considered  satisfactory  in  work  of  a 
routine  nature.  They  are  distinctly  of  lower 
intelligence  than  the  “C”  group,  but  their  men- 
tal age  is  probably  not  below  twelve. 

D.  Inferior  Intelligence.  Included  about 
fifteen  per  cent  of  the  draft.  They  are  slow 
in  learn  ng,  and  rarely  suited  for  tasks  which 
require  special  skill,  resourcefulness,  or  sus- 
tained alertness.  It  is  unsafe  to  expect  these, 
or  those  of  grades  “D — ” and  ‘E”  to  read  in- 
telligently or  understand  written  direct* ons. 

D — and  E.  Very  Inferior  Intelligence. 
The  majority  of  these  men  are  below  the 
“mental  age”  of  ten — some  were  discovered 
with  a mental  age  as  low  as  two  or  three, 
and  were  being  passed  upon  for  sending  to 
France  in  1918.  . 

When  such  a representative  body  of  men 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


65 


as  the  American  Army  drafted  under  the  Se- 
lective Service  law  shows  an  “average  intelli- 
gence” comprising  about  twenty-five  per  cent 
that  are  rarely  capable  of  graduating  from 
high  school,  with  a mental  age  of  about  four- 
teen; twenty  per  cent  that  have  a mental  age 
of  about  twelve;  fifteen  per  cent  of  an  even 
lower  mental  age,  incapable  of  reading  intel- 
ligent y or  understanding  written  direct  ons  ; 
and  two  other  classes  that  are  still  inferior, 
with  mental  ages  ranging  from  below  ten 
years  to  as  low  as  two  or  three,  then  we  can 
get  at  least  some  approximate  idea  of  the  in- 
fantile state  of  mind  of  a large  section  of  the 
general  population. 

Kinds  of  Neuroses. 

According  to  the  theory  of  Freud,  the  neur- 
oses are  divided  into  the  true  neuroses  and 
psycho-neuroses. 

The  true  neuroses  are  neurasthenia  and 
anxiety-neurosis.  The  causes  of  these  diseases 
Freud  maintains,  is  the  disturbance  of  the 
sexual  processes  which  determine  the  forma- 
tion and  utilization  of  the  sexual  libido. 

As  he  summarizes  it:  “We  can  hardly 

avoid  perceiving  these  processes  as  being,  in 
their  last  analysis,  chemical  in  their  nature, 
so  that  we  recognize  in  the  true  neuroses  the 
somatic  effect  of  disturbances  in  the  sexual 
metabolism,  while  in  the  psycho-neurosis  we 
recognize  besides  the  psychic  effects  of  the 
same  disturbances.  The  resemblance  of  the 


66 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


neuroses  to  the  manifestations  of  intoxication 
and  abstinence,  following  certain  alkaloids, 
and  to  Basedow’s  and  Addison’s  diseases  ob- 
trudes itself  clinically  without  any  further 
ado,  and  just  as  these  two  diseases  should  no 
longer  be  described  as  nervous  diseases,  so 
will  the  genuine  neurosis  soon  have  to  be  re- 
moved from  this  class,  despite  their  nomen- 
clature.” 

Neurasthenia,  in  Freud’s  opinion,  is  due  to 
exaggerated  sexual  self-gratification  which 
weakens  the  individual’s  will-power  by  mak- 
ing the  goal  too  easily  obtainable,  affords  in- 
adequate relief,  diminishes  potency  and,  by 
ignoring  too  many  psychological  sources  of 
excitment,  may  cause  physical  injury.  The 
neurasthenic  turns  away  from  society,  from 
reality,  and,  if  a man,  from  women,  for  he 
cannot  tolerate  feminine  imperfection.  Thus, 
he  becomes  anti-social  and  betrays  the  result 
of  his  vain  strife  against  passion  in  many 
ways,  lack  of  will-power,  doubts  about  the 
possibility  of  achievement  and  self-reproaches. 

Among  the  symptoms  of  anxiety  neurosis 
are  general  irritability,  exaggerated  visual 
and  auditive  sensations  which  are  frequently 
the  cause  of  sleeplessness,  anxious  expecta- 
tions of  accidents,  death,  insanity,  accompan- 
ied in  some  cases  by  a disturbance  of  one  or 
more  bodily  functions,  respiration,  circulation, 
glandular  functions,  etc.  One  of  the  most 
characteristic  symptoms  of  anxiety  neurosis  is 
a form  of  dizziness  which  never  leads  to  com- 
plete loss  of  equilibrium. 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  67 

The  symptoms  of  anxiety  neurosis  are  con- 
sidered by  Freud  as  substitutes  for  the  specific 
action  which  should  follow  sexual  excitement 
and  which  is  accompanied  by  acceleration  of 
the  respiration,  palpitation,  sweating  and  con- 
gestion. 

It  is  popularly  supposed  that  anxiety 
neurosis  is  a result  of  overwork.  Freud  says, 
however,  that  the  physician  who  informs  a 
busy  man  that  he  has  overworked  himself,  or 
an  active  woman  that  her  household  duties 
have  been  too  burdensome,  should  tell  his 
patients  they  are  sick,  not  because  they  have 
sought  to  discharge  duties  which  for  a civi- 
lized brain  are  comparatively  easy,  but  be- 
cause they  have  neglected,  if  not  stifled,  their 
sexual  life  while  attending  to  their  duties. 

Men  who  resort  to  ungrat’fying  forms  of 
sexual  activity  and  women  left  unsatisfied  by 
the  impotence  or  ejacuiatio  praecox  of  their 
husbands,  are  often  found  to  be  suffering 
from  anxiety  neurosis. 

Characteristic  of  the  emotional  obsessions 
of  psycho-neurosis,  sometimes  referred  to  as 
psychasthenia,  are  various  phobias  or  fears; 
agoraphobia,  fear  of  open  spaces,  claustro- 
phobia, fear  of  closed  spaces;  astrapaphobia, 
fear  of  thunder  and  lightning;  aerophobia, 
fear  of  being  in  high  p^ces;  morbid  desires 
for  drink  or  drugs;  volitional  obsessions; 
kleptomania,  impulse  to  steal;  pyromania,  im- 
pulse to  set  fire  to  th:ngs;  arithmomama, 
impure  to  count  everything;  onomatomania, 
impulse  to  repeat  one  word,  and  so  on. 


03  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

To  afford  a more  scientific  classification, 
the’se  symptoms  of  psychasthenia  have  been 
divided  up  by  psycho-analysts  into  hysteria, 
anxiety  hysteria  and  compulsion  neurosis. 

Hysteria,  Freud  states,  is  due  to  an  emo- 
tional conflict  between  the  usual  urge  and  the 
sexual  repression,  and  its  symptoms  have  the 
value  of  a compromise  between  both  psychic 
streams. 

Anxiety  hysteria  is  frequently  associated 
with  hysteria  proper.  In  this  case  the  anx- 
iety arises  not  only  from  physical  sources,  but 
from  a part  of  the  ungratified  desire  which 
embraces  a number  of  complexes.  As  the 
normal  mind  reacts  to  danger  through  anxiety, 
we  might  propose  the  ana  ogy  that  in  this  case 
the  mind  is  defending  itself  against  internal 
danger.  The  psycho  mechanism  is  the  same 
as  in  hysteria  except  that  it  does  not  lead  to 
conversion  into  physical  symptoms.  Anxiety 
hysteria  invariably  tends  to  develop  a phobia. 
The  most  common  of  hysterical  phobias  is 
agoraphobia,  which  prevents  the  patient  from 
walking  comfortably  across  an  empty  space, 
although  he  can  do  so  when  accompanied  by 
certain  persons.  Another  anxiety  hysterical 
disturbance  is  erythrophobia,  or  fear  of  red, 
which  has  as  its  motivating  basis  self-re- 
proach or  shame  of  some  sort,  the  feeling  of 
being  slighted  or  of  anger. 

Hysteria  is  more  peculiar  to  the  female 
sex,  obsessional  neurosis  to  the  ma]e  sex. 

The  obsession  neurosis  is  featured  by  con- 
stant ambivalence,  or  the  experiencing  of  op- 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  6«! 

posite  feelings  at  the  same  time,  such  as  love, 
and  hatred  for  the  same  person,  although,  of 
course,  one  of  these  emotions  may  predomi- 
nate in  the  Conscious  and  the  other  in  the 
Unconscious. 

In  compulsion  neurosis,  the  thought  of  the 
possibility  of  death  to  others  is  often  present. 
In  every  conflict,  the  subject  awaits  the  death 
of  someone  important  or  dear  to  him,  a rival 
or  one  of  the  love  objects  between  whom  his 
inclination  wavers.  His  obsession  is  anchored 
upon  a superstitious  belief  in  the  potency  of 
his  evil  wishes.  Superstitions  of  all  kinds,  in 
fact,  occupy  a prominent  place  in  the  com- 
pulsion neurosis. 

The  d fference  between  neuroses  and  psy- 
choses has  been  made  very  clear  by  Adler,  who 
says:  “Longing  for  an  unattainable  ideal  is 

at  the  bottom  of  both.  Defeat  or  fear  of  de- 
feat causes  the  weaker  individual  to  seek  a 
substitute  for  his  real  goal.  At  this  point  be- 
gins the  process  of  psychic  transformation 
designated  as  a neurosis.  In  the  neurosis, 
the  pursuit  of  the  fictitious  goal  does  not  lead 
to  an  open  conflict  with  reality,  the  neuroic 
simply  considering  reality  as  a very  disturbing 
element,  as  he  does  in  neurasthenia,  hypochon- 
dria, anxiety,  compulsion  neurosis  and  hys- 
teria. In  the  psychoses,  the  guiding  mascu- 
line f’etion  appears  disguised  in  pictures  and 
symbols  of  infantile  origin.  The  patient  no 
longer  acts  as  though  he  wished  to  be  mascu- 
line, to  be  above,  but  as  though  he  had  already 
attained  those  ends.” 


70 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


In  substance,  the  neurotic  is  grieved  by  not 
being  all-powerful..  The  psychotic  is  all-pow- 
erful, and  attempts  to  force  his  environment 
to  share  his  belief. 

Curative  Value  of  Psycho-Analysis. 

From  the  foregoing  array  of  psychic  dis- 
turbances and  physical  complications,  it  should 
readily  be  perceived  that  medicine — the  im- 
portance of  which  in  its  place  is  fully  recog- 
nized by  analysts — can  be  of  little  or  no 
service.  This  explahfe  why  people  of  neurotic- 
disposition  ai^rfafl^Aly  found  who  are  un- 
dergoing meJ^^^HBpiient  either  constantly 
or  intermitt^BplMp^ears  without  relieving 
the  trouble,  'I^^^HPact,  it  doesn’t  grow  more 
pronounced. 

To  those  who  have  regressed  definitely 
into  severe  neurosis,  or  worse,  have  sunk  into 
a pathological  condition  of  incipient  or  chronic- 
insanity,  even  of  a non-violent  type,  there  is 
little  hope  of  self-relief. 

If  the  expert  services  of  a competent  psy- 
cho-analyst practitioner  are  not  available,  a 
change  for  the  better  is  hardly  likely,  unless 
nature  in  her  great  resourcefulness  overcomes 
l&fche  tremendous  odds  and  brings  a favorable 
turn  or,  as  is  more  probable,  some  distressing- 
causative  factors  are  unwittingly  or  with  de- 
sign alleviated. 

We  should,  therefore,  emphasize  every- 
thing that  would  tend  to  promote  the  latter. 
Among  the  great  outstanding  causes  of  neur- 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  71 

oses  is  an  irrational  sexual  life.  Very  many 
of  these  cases,  can  be  afforded  relief,  especiah 

hv  lZ°nS-  married  Persons  when  well  mated 
by  obtaining  some  rational  knowledge  of  mar- 
riage psychology  and  of  the  emotional  and 
spiritual  significance  of  the  sex  act.  This 
will  give  a new  meaning  to  the  marriage  re- 

o?k°noSnahi  ^ently.C-ange  the  who'e  out- 
look on  life  and  react  immeasurably  in  im- 
proved mental  and  physical  health. 

The  writer  has  discussed  this  phase  of  the 

“SANITY8  INnSEX^  “^h?1  ?ivisions  of  his 
“sfy  riiiuf  SEXf  n,otab]y  ln  the  chapters 
Enlightenment  amfeConjugal  Happiness  ” 
Sex  Ignorance— A CaAfcf  MaritJn  i 
and  Divorce,”  and  tlm^ New 

Notwithstanding  the^PotSiVl barriers  so 
frequently  m the  way  of?  4l*l  sex  in 
marriage,  the  advantages  ofTlEig  this  goL" 
are  so  great  that  it  behooves  every  individua 
and  coup  e who  expect  to  continue"^  livfng  and 

anything  to  live  for,  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  knowledge  that  is  accessible. 

attSe  brin^  with  it  a new  and  healthier 
attitude  ?n  facing  the  problems  of  life.  It  will 
so  banish  the  false  notions  of  an  irrational 
aWe' theCfflythe  Prudery  and  prurience,  and  en- 

«nts  W ft*61'  and  mother  t0  he  better  par 
«nts  and  the  companions  of  their  children 

YorkPUWiShed  192°’  Dodd’  Mead  & Co.,  New 


72  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

The  young  people,  in  turn  will  profit  by 
this  superior  training  and  the  improved  insight 
into  v tal  matters  which  it  will  bring  them, 
and  consequently  the  new  generation  will  be 
healthier,  more  adaptable  and  freer  from  bane- 
ful neurotic  afflictions. 

As  we  have  int: mated,  every  individual  has 
neurot’c  tendencies,  which  assert  themselves 
at  t mes  in  minor  ways,  but  the  normal  in- 
dividual (adult)  has  adapted  himself  to  the 
exigencies  of  reality.  Thus,  he  is  not  con- 
stant’y swept  and  tossed  about  by  these  inner 
forces,  like  a rudderless  craft  on  the  surging 
sea,  as  is  the  case  of  the  victim  of  malevolent 
repressions. 

Insanity  (except  when  due  to  disintegra- 
tion of  the  brain  structure,  such  as  may  result 
from  syphilitic  lesion,  alcoholic  deterioration, 
tumor  or  other  malignant  growth,  etc.)  is  es- 
sent  ally  a neurot  c state.  It  has  aT  the  symp- 
toms in  a more  or  less  exaggerated  form  of 
the  various  neuroses.  It  is  amost  invariably 
the  neurotics,  barring  the  above  exceptions, 
who  become  insane  as  they  lose  their  grip  on 
the  vitals  of  reality. 

This  impresses  us  with  the  fact  that  there 
is  not  a hard  and  fast  dividing  line  between 
the  sane  and  the  insane.  Even  the  sanest 
peop^  sometimes  have  fits  of  rage  that  have 
aT  the  features  of  insanity  while  they  last. 
Peop^  with  pretty  good  practical  minds  oc- 
casionally do  some  very  irrational  or  foolish 
things  when  seized  by  an  unaccountable  im- 
pulse— even  to  the  extent  of  committing  mur- 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  n 

der,  or  suicide. 

Ail  of  these  exhibitions  are  regressions 
from  teaiity.  Some  people,  it  may  be  said, 
have  a predisposing  temperament  which  makes 
their  struggle  with  reality  harder  than  for 
others.  It  is  these  individuals  the  childhood 
repressions  or  complexes  affect  the  most  pro- 
foundly. But  psycho-analysis  offers  relief  to 
them — in  fact  the  only  possibility  for  relief, 
as  has  been  proven  many  times. 

The  regressions  from  reality  are  toward 
childhood  and  the  infantile  state.  Neurotics 
invest  themselves  with  the  prerogatives  of 
children.  And  it  is  not  without  reason  (an 
irrational  one,  however.)  To  the  child,  many 
things  are  obtainable,  and  by  very  sample 
means,  that  the  adult  cannot  command.  The 
child  cries  for  food,  or  pleads  for  something  it 
desires,  and  it  is  brought  to  him.  Without 
consc.ousiy  realizing  it,  this  easy  process  ap- 
peals irresistibly  to  the  neurotic  type  of  mind. 
So  he  regress;  maybe  he  develops  some  dis- 
ability or  sickness,  purely  as  a resu.t  of  his 
psychic  condition,  and  he  finds  he  is  waited  on 
and  cared  for  much  as  he  was  when  a child. 
Any  number  of  similies  could  be  cited  to  il- 
lustrate the  parallel. 

The  insane  regress  even  further  to  the 
infantile  plane.  The  more  hopelessly  insane 
the  person  is,  the  more  infantile  he  becomes 
in  his  act:ons.  Cases  are  not  uncommon  where 
the  victim  is  so  far  removed  from  all  interest 
in  life  that  he  lies  down,  utterly  disregarding 
his  environment  and  all  the  bodily  functions, 


74  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

often  assuming  the  prenatal  position  of  the 
fetus. 

Suicide  may  be  said  to  be  a supreme  man- 
ifestation of  the  neurotic  symptoms.  By  this 
final  act,  the  neurotic  successfully  and  irre- 
trievably flees  from  reality  and  returns  to 
the  embracing  arms  of  Mother  Earth  where 
the  problems  of  life  will  beset  him  no  more. 
If  he  has  religious  scruples  or  superstitions, 
the  prospect  of  being  damned  in  another  world 
are  not  more  forbidding  than  the  hellishness 
of  reality  in  this.  If  he  is  unencumbered  by 
theological  dogma,  he  enters  the  endless 
cycle  of  oblivion,  whose  incomparable  attrac- 
tion is  an  eternity  of  inertia,  silence,  peace. 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


75 


CHAPTER  V. 


The  Unconscious  Love  Elements. 

We  have  reviewed  several  important  phases 
of  our  unconscious  psychic  activities,  and 
learn  that  their  influence  on  the  part  of  the 
individual  and  indirectly  on  society  is  so  tre- 
mendous that  it  can  hardly  be  adequately 
described  or  appreciated.  Our  unconscious 
thoughts,  actions  and  potentialities  are  infin- 
itely more  diverse  and  far-reaching  than  are 
those  of  our  conscious  mind. 

This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  biologically 
speaking,  our  conscious  mental  processes, 
which  involve  the  use  of  reason,  logic  judg- 
ment and  directed  thinking,  are  of  comparative- 
ly recent  origin,  going  back  perhaps  a few 
thousand  years  at  the  most.  And  sizing  up 
the  human  race  as  it  is  today,  we  cannot  be 
very  enthusiastic  over  the  general  results  in 
this  phase  of  its  development. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  unconscious  pro- 
cesses, which  are  manifested  in  intuitive  de- 
cisions, instinctive  actions  or  emotional  out- 
bursts of  all  kinds — passion,  love,  hate,  jeal- 
ousy, etc. — have  had  a heritage  of  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  years  as  humans,  and  behind 
that  millions  of  years  more  from  pre-human 
ancestry. 

The  Unconscious,  therefore,  is  older  and 


76  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

more  firmly  rooted  in  the  human  constitution 
than  the  conscious,  so  it  exerts  an  influence  in 
proportion  to  its  racial  age  and  development. 

When  we  take  into  account  the  various 
manifestations  of  the  love  elements,  we  find 
the  same  conditions  existing.  A few  of  us 
have  made  some  effort  toward  a reasonable 
and  rational  approach  and  understanding  of 
our  erotic  nature.  There  are  many  difficul- 
ties in  the  way  of  this  accomplishment,  due 
to  the  socially  ingrained  prurience  and  pru- 
dery which  so  warp  the  viewpoint  of  the  av- 
erage man  and  woman. 

But  little  as  is  the  common  understanding 
of  our  conscious  love  life,  the  deeper  and 
highly  intricate  evidence  of  the  unconscious 
love  elements  lie  in  a practically  unexplored 
field. 

Affection  is  largely  a product  of  the  con- 
scious mind.  By  association  we  may  learn  to 
like  and  esteem  persons  regardless  of  their 
age  or  sex.  We  experience  a feeling  which 
combines  respect,  confidence  and  interest. 
One  may  also  hold  affection  for  a dog,  horse, 
or  other  animal;  or  for  an  inanimate  object. 
We  may  become  attached  to  our  home,  a piece 
of  jewelry,  a book,  a picture,  or  other  article 
which  gives  us  p easure  or  comfort.  The  feel- 
ing of  affection,  however,  while  a very  elastic 
term,  does  not  involve  sexuality. 

The  attraction  of  a human  being  for  a 
person  of  the  opposite  sex,  is  something  pro- 
foundly different.  It  has  a more  remote  back- 
ground in  our  biological  heritage.  It  origi- 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


Y7 


nates  in  our  Unconscious,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  primitive  of  all  the  instincts — going  back 
to  the  earliest  form  of  life.  Its  biological 
motive  is  reproduction  or  race  propagat  on — 
although,  of  course,  its  actual  expression  to- 
ward this  end  forms  only  an  infinitesimal  part 
of  its  present  activity. 

Throughout  the  whole  animal  kingdom  the 
chief  end  of  life  is  to  make  one  sex  attractive 
to,  and  attracted  by,  the  other  sex.  Among 
the  lower  animals,  this  characteristic  is  more 
obvious  than  among  human  beings,  even 
though  the  actual  mating  season  may  be  in 
many  cases  periodical  instead  of  continuous 
as  among  mankind. 

Consciously,  we  have  devised  ways  and 
means  of  circumventing  some  of  these  ten- 
dencies. Often  we  find  that  our  Unconscious 
has  outwitted  our  efforts  to  reform  ourselves. 
One  reason  is  that,  in  our  frantic  desire  to 
overcome  what  has  been  erroneously  consid- 
ered the  grosser  aspects  of  sex,  we  have  at- 
tempted to  suppress  it. 

And  sex  life  cannot  and  will  not  be  sup- 
pressed, except  in  a certain  few  cases,  and 
then  at  a high  cost.  Sometimes  the  cost  is 
terrific.  The  result  of  stifling  normal  sex 
act'vity  are  prominent  among  the  casualties 
and  tragedies  of  our  modern  civilization. 

In  every  normal  person,  there  is  a conscious 
or  unconscious  thrill,  however  slight,  upon 
sight  of  an  attractive  person  of  the  opposite 
sex.  More  often  this  reaction  of  the  phenom- 
ena of  sex  is  unconscious,  as  in  facing  the  con- 


78 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


ditions  of  modern  reality,  we  cannot  concern 
ourselves  with  every  passing  object  that  is 
pleasing.  Nevertheless,  the  unconscious  thrill 
is  invariably  present,  and  we  sometimes  con- 
sciously reflect  it  by  casting  a second  glance, 
or  manifesting  some  other  form  of  sexual  in- 
terest which  we  may  not  care  to  recognize  as 
such.  This  unconscious  trait  of  our  psychic 
make-up  is  not  very  discriminating.  It  goes 
out  to  all  fairly  attractive  members  of  the 
opposite  sex. 

There  is,  however,  another  feature  of  our 
unconscious  love  emotions  that  evidences  a 
marked  discrimination.  This  factor  in  our 
psychic  arrangement  is  responsible  for  count- 
less marital  failures,  resulting  in  unhappiness, 
infidelity  and  divorce,  when  an  understanding 
of  the  situation  would  have  saved  a large  per- 
centage of  these  marriages,  or  prevented  in  the 
first  place  the  union  that  resulted  so  dis- 
asterously. 

Why  is  it  that  each  of  us  instinctively 
takes  to,  or  shows  a preference  for,  a certain 
type  of  individual  of  the  opposite  sex?  Why 
is  it  that  some  people  fall  in  love  at  first  sight 
— often  to  fall  out  again  as  soon  as  they  get  a 
chance  to  become  acquainted? 

Sometimes  this  characteristic  in  us  works 
so  subtly  that  we  fail  to  realize  that  there  are 
types  to  which  we  are  attracted — and  others 
that  we  are  not  attracted  to  at  all,  or  are  re- 
pelled by. 

Still,  we  all  realize  that  we  may  meet  cer- 
tain people  that  interest  us  (consciously) 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


79 


from  the  very  first,  and  we  do  not  know  the 
reason  why.  All  our  reasoning  may  tell  us 
that  there  is  nothing  in  the  individual  that 
warrants  a second  thought,  and  yet  we  are  at- 
tracted, sometimes  quite  strongly.  This  is  an 
expression  of  the  unconscious  love  element, 
or  unconscious  passion,  in  action. 

We  all  have  known  or  heard  of  men 
and  women  who  have  sacrificed  honor,  name, 
home,  family  and  everything  else  to  indulge 
a passion  for  some  individual  of  the  opposite 
sex.  Usually  the  one  who  makes  the  great 
sacrifice,  sometimes  it  is  one,  sometimes  the 
other,  less  frequently  both — realizes  conscious- 
ly that  he  or  she  is  acting  the  part  of  an  un- 
mitigated fool.  The  better  judgment  clearly 
recognizes  that  the  only  outcome  can  be  dis- 
grace and  ruin. 

But  the  potency  of  the  unconscious  passion 
once  more  has  its  sway,  whether  for  a year,  a 
month  or  a day.  The  millions  of  years  of  in- 
dulgence in  unconscious  desires  rise  above  the 
few  thousands  of  years  of  conscious  reasoning 
power.  The  stern  reality  principle  is  side- 
tracked for  the  time  being  for  the  lure  of  the 
pleasure  principle. 

The  attraction  of  one  sex  for  the  other,  as 
we  have  stated,  is  one  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  life — in  all  forms  of  life.  And 
nature,  which  is  responsible  for  this  condition 
has  created  a situat;on  that  more  often  than 
not  borders  on  a dilemma.  Natures  takes 
little  account  of  the  social  conventions  and  of 
the  cultural  demands  of  civilization.  If  we 


80 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


do  not  by  common-sense  and  sound  judgment, 
make  arrangements  for  some  harmonious  ad- 
justment of  our  innate  forces  and  our  envir- 
onment, then  we  suffer. 

The  Parent  Image. 

As  a result  of  this  attraction  of  sex  for 
sex,  we  are  born  with,  and  early  develop,  cer- 
tain tendencies  that  will  carry  out  the  biologi- 
cal p an.  In  every  human  male,  from  the 
moment  of  its  earliest  impressions,  there  be- 
gins to  form  a mental  image  of  one  woman — 
usually  the  mother,  or  her  substitute — nurse, 
grandmother,  aunt,  eMer  sister,  or  other  fe- 
male that  is  closely  concerned  with  the  task 
of  nourishing  and  catering  to  the  wants  of  the 
infant.  The  female  child  is  similarly  influ- 
enced by  the  father  image — which  may  involve 
brother,  grandfather  or  other  male  relative. 

The  st  ength  of  impression  or  flexibility  of 
this  image  in  the  psyche  of  the  individual  gov- 
erns his  future  att.tude  toward  others  of  the 
opposite  sex.  This  picture  is  carried  around 
unconsciously  in  our  psychic  sphere,  and  a 
comparison  is  unconsciously  made  whenever 
we  see  one  of  the  opposite  sex  that  interests 
us.  We  never  lose  it,  although  in  normal 
human  beings,  as  puberty  is  approached,  the 
influence  of  the  image  dwindles.. 

There  are  others,  who  do  not  break  off 
this  infantile  attachment  at  the  pubescent 
period  or  shortly  after,  and  while  they  may  be 
normal  adults  in  every  other  respect,  the 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


81 


prospect  of  a happy  married,  or  a rational  sex 
life  is  not  theirs — unless  by  means  of  analy- 
sis, they  are  made  acquainted  with  the  nature 
and  import  of  their  complex,  and  relieved  of. 
the  disturbance. 

The  man  who  carries  the  mother  image  in 
his  Unconscious  so  that  it  dominates  his  ac- 
tions is  a typical  neurotic.  We  all  have  this 
image  in  our  psyche  and  are  influenced  by  it,' 
some  more  and  some  less,  but  in  the  normal 
man,  it  is  not  a dominating  factor. 

Its  influence,  however,  is  great.  It  is  com- 
monly observed  that  in  the  selection  of  a wife, 
men  are  influenced  by  traits,  real  or  imagi- 
nary, in  the  object  of  their  love  that  the  Un- 
conscious perceives  as  likening  to  the  mother 
(from  whom  it  has  received  so  many  com- 
forts). The  likeness  may  be  extremely  slight, 
an  intonation  of  the  voice,  a flashing  smile,  or 
a toss  of  the  head,  or  it  may  be  entirely  im- 
aginary, but  the  Unconscious,  through  the 
nuclear  complex,  senses,  m its  crude,  erratic 
way,  a new  source  of  satisfaction  and  comfort. 

Thus  it  seeks  to  regain  -ost  pleasures  which 
it  has  missed  since  the  youth  has  passed  from 
its  mother’s  care,  by  influencing  a choice  in 
favor  of  the  woman  that  resembles  the  infan- 
tile image  of  his  mother. 

If  the  mother  is  living,  it  does  not  imply 
that  the  image  corresponds  with  her  present 
appearance.  The  impression  is  as  she  appear- 
ed to  the  Unconscious  of  the  man  or  youth  in 
his  infancy.  It  may  even  be  that  a man  treats 
his  mother  with  scant  consideration,  is  ill- 


$2 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


tempered  and  even  disrespectful,  and 


still  be 
mother 


dominated  by  the  infantile  image  of  his  : 
which  he  unconsciously  holds  as  a model  for 
all  womanhood.  And  all  women  who  come 
within  his  observation  fail  to  measure  up  to 
the  set  standard — even  the  mother  in  tne  flesh 
as  she  is  at  the  present  time. 

In  other  words,  it  is  a symbolical  image  or 
distorted  memory  that  he  unconsciously  wor- 
ships— a living  replica  of  which  he  is  ever 
trying  to  find  for  his  own.  But  he  is  doomed 
to  disappointment,  because  such  a being — the 
living  phantasy  of  his  Unconscious — does 
not  exist. 

It  is  this  trait  which  causes  many  men  to 
remain  unmarried  throughout  life,  because 
they  are  unable  to  find  the  non-existent  mate 
they  are  continually  looking  for. 

But  worse  is  the  fate  of  the  man  in  this 
frame  of  mind  who  marries,  because  he  soon 
finds  that  his  wife  is  not  the  woman  he 
thought  she  was.  She  is  not,  nor  could  she  be. 
Nor  could  any  other  woman  fill  the  bill. 

Many  who  are  not  confirmed  neurotics, 
but  who  have  strong  tendencies  in  that  direc- 
tion, feel  a similar  something  lacking,  an  inde- 
scribable element,  in  their  marriage  relations. 
They  realize  that  the  woman  they  have  chosen 
is  a good  wife,  but  there  is  some  misgiving  that 
they  feel  but  cannot  definitely  place.  If  they 
could  be  brought  to  understand  that  they  are 
simply  trying  to  measure  up  a very  human 
person  with  a non-existent  ideal  or  image, 
$hey  would  have  a key  to  the  solution. 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


m 


This  picture  of  their  unconscious  psychic 
processes  would  suggest  to  them  the  futility 
of  trying  to  find  the  impossible  (which  is  a 
neurotic  tendency  of  getting  away  from  the 
reality  principle.)  Therefore,  if  not  hopeless 
or  too  far  gone,  they  would  adjust  themselves 
to  actualities,  realize  that  a man  should  love 
his  wife  for  her  own  qualities  and  not  feel 
slighted  because  she  lacks  some  imaginary 
ones.  By  doing  this  he  will  be  forsaking  the 
infantile  attitude  of  the  baby  who  demands 
the  moon,  and  cries  because  he  can’t  have  it. 
This  is  substantially  what  the  neurotic  is 
doing. 

All  of  this,  of  course,  applies  with  equal 
force  to  the  female  neurotic  who  is  dominated 
by  a father  fixation. 

This  parent  image  is  the  cause  of  many 
cases  of  impotence — called  psychic  impotence 
— because  in  the  wife  the  husband’s  Uncon- 
scious senses  a member  of  the  mother-sister 
class,  with  whom,  on  account  of  the  incest  bar- 
rier, it  is  impossible  to  experience  the  consu- 
mation  of  the  sex  act.  For  the  same  reason, 
it  is  the  cause  of  frigid  wives.  And  impo- 
tence, and  frigidity  in  themselves  are  recog- 
nized as  fertile  breeding  grounds  for  marital 
disharmony. 

It  is  frequently  observed  that  men  of  this 
type  who  are  impotent  with  their  wives,  may 
resort  to  prost’tutes  and  secure  sexual  satis- 
faction. This  is  because  the  prostitute,  being- 
recognized  by  him  as  a low  or  fallen  woman, 
is  not  in  the  mother-sister  class,  and  there- 


84  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

fore  the  incest  barrier  in  these  relations  is 
inoperative. 

Homo-sexuality. 

Analysts  have  also  discovered  that,  for  the 
reasons  just  cited,  homo-sexuality  is  a result 
of  a parent  fixation.  In  this  instance  (for 
men),  all  women  fall  under  the  ban  of  the 
incest  barrier,  and  the  natural  sexual  urge  is 
perverted  or  driven  into  abnormal  channels — 
the  desire  for  sexual  congress  with  a member 
of  the  same  sex. 

Instead  of  being  due  to  some  inherent  trait 
or  vicious  tendency,  it  has  been  found  that 
homo-sexuality  is  conditioned  by  environment. 
Thus,  the  boy  who  is  raised  in  too  exclusively 
feminine  an  environment  or  is  Mollycoddled 
by  his  mother  beyond  all  bounds,  may  develop 
into  a homo-sexual. 

Andre  Tridon  (Psychoanalysis  and  Behav- 
ior) states:  ‘‘Psychoanalysts  are  all  agreed 

on  the  genesis  of  passive  male  homo-sexual- 
ism.  The  passive  maie  homo-sexual  is  in  every 
case  the  son  of  a widow  or  divorced  mother, 
separated  from  the  husband  by  death,  deser- 
tion or  legal  proceedings  soon  after  the  boy’s 
birth.” 

“The  boy,  compelled  to  imitate  some  one 
in  order  to  have  a standard  of  behavior,  copies 
his  mother’s  attitude  of  physical  indifference 
to  women  and  physical  interest  in  men.  In 
every  respect,  but  in  the  anatomical  respect 
he  becomes  a woman,  and  later  in  life  'will 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


85 


conceive  of  sexual  gratification  as  woman 
would.  Possession  by  a man  will  become  his 
goal.” 

The  theory  of  sexual  perversions  as  a re- 
sult of  unnatural  environment  has  been  proven 
to  be  correct  by  experiments  with  pigeons. 
A young  male  pigeon  raised  among  males  in 
the  absence  of  any  female  will,  when  reach- 
ing sexual  maturity,  be  attracted  by  males 
only  whom  he  will  treat  at  mating  time  as 
though  they  were  females.  A male  pigeon 
raised  among  females  will  at  mating  time 
play  the  part  of  a female. 

This  again  is  an  illustration  of  the  poten- 
tialities of  the  parent  image.  It  is  even  bet- 
ter emphasized  in  the  case  of  passenger  pig- 
eons and  ring  doves.  Passenger  pigeons  have 
never  been  known  to  mate  normally  with  ring 
doves.  However,  if  a ring  dove  hatches  the 
eggs  of  a passenger  pigeon,  the  young  male 
passenger  pigeon  thus  mothered  will  readily 
mate  with  ring  doves  who  represent  the  moth- 
er-inlage  in  its  normal  status.  Furthermore, 
they  will  refuse  to  mate  with  female  passenger 
pigeons  to  which,  if  instinct  or  heredity  were 
the  dominant  factors,  they  should  inevitably 
be  drawn.  In  this  instance,  the  mother-image 
is  missing;  environment  being  a more  power- 
ful determinant  of  behavior  than  inheritance. 


Exhibitionism. 

Exhibitionism  is  another  inherent  trait  in 
every  individual  that  is  little  considered  in 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


86 

our  behavior.  Little  need  be  said  in  this  trea- 
tise in  regard  to  its  abnormal  manifestitations 
when  the  characteristic  becomes  a patholog- 
ical condition,  and  the  subject  secures  con- 
scious sexual  gratification  by  displaying  very 
personal  parts  of  his  anatomy.  This  form 
of  perversion  is  not  uncommon,  and  is  . the 
antithesis  or  direct  opposite  of  the  desire  to 
see  sexual  objects — the  abnormal  type  being- 
represented  by  the  Peeping  Tom. 

It  m.ght  be  mentioned,  in  passing,  that  in 
every  individual  there  is  a group  of  traits 
that  constitute  the  sex  and  ego  qualities  of 
the  individual,  and  which  combine  to  make  up 
his  personality.  Every  trait  has  an  opposing 
one  that,  in  the  normal  person,  creates  a de- 
sirable equilibrium,  so  that  the  individual 
functions  with  as  little  friction  as  possible 
in  his  social  regions.  It  is  a lack  of  propor- 
tion in  any  of  these  expressions  of  the  libido 
or  life  force  that  makes  the  neurotic  the  ab- 
normal man  or  woman — the  pervert. 

Thus,  in  every  individual  there  are  both 
heterosexual  and  homosexual  tendencies  (in 
the  normal  person  the  latter  are  vestigial  or 
extremely  rudimentary) ; there  are  qualities 
of  exhibitionism  and  sexual  curiosity;  of  sad- 
ism and  masochism  (the  former  in  a degree  is 
more  peculiar  to  men  and  the  latter  to  women) 
and  others  that  are  not  so  pronounced. 

There  are,  however,  countless  examples  of 
exhibitionism  which  are  so  commonplace  that 
we  simply  take  them  for  granted  without 
question.  These  are  fundamentally  governed 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


87 


by  our  unconscious  psychic  processes,  and  are 
a part  of  the  so-called  secondary  manifesta- 
tions of  sex.  In  this  class,  we  recognize  tl^ 
tendency  among  women  to  wear  low-necked 
dresses  or  gowns,  short  skirts,  sleeveless 
waists,  transparent  fabrics,  etc.,  which  permit 
some  display  of  their  flesh  or  figure  and  thus 
afford  an  unconscious  and  frequently  a con- 
scious • gratif ication  of  woman's  exhibitionist 
qualities.  Other  common  examples  of  the 
same  thing  are  elaborate  hair-dressing  effects, 
picturesque  hats,  corsets,  which  are  supposed 
to  emphasize  the  feminine  shape,  extremely 
pointed  shoes  and  high  heels;  various  poses, 
etc. 

Men  also  have  their  characteristic  exhibi- 
tionist qualities.  Prominent  among  them  are 
forms  of  dress  which  display  or  suggest 
masculine  strength,  such  as  square-cut  or 
padded  shoulders,  athletic  costumes,  etc.,  and 
countless  acts  and  affectations  which  have  as 
their  motive  the  conscious  or  unconscious  de- 
sire to  attract  the  attention  and  win  the 
admiration  of  the  opposite  sex. 

This  quality  is  also  a factor  which  spurs 
on  certain  persons  of  both  sexes  in  their  de- 
sire to  become  actors,  public  speakers,  lec- 
turers, demonstrators,  or  other  callings  of 
this  general  nature. 

Sadism  and  Masochism. 

Sadism  is  the  trait  in  our  psychic  make-up 
which  causes  us  to  get  satisfaction  by  inflict- 
ing pain  on  another.  Its  operation  is  mani- 


8S 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


fold  and  more  universal  than  we  may  care  to 
acknowledge.  It  is  illustrated  in  the  child  who 
teases  or  injures  cats,  dogs  and  other  pets, 
or  in  a symbolical  form  in  destroying  dolls 
and  toy  animals.  It  is  characterized  strongly 
in  the  bully  and  all  individuals  who  subject 
others  to  acts  of  cruelty  and  punishment,  or 
in  a lesser  degree  to  tickling,  teasing  and 
petty  annoyances  of  a like  nature.  Parents 
who  whip  their  children;  men  who  beat  their 
wives;  boys  who  look  for  a fight;  successful 
soldiers,  pugilists,  football  players  and  many 
others,  show  a posit  ve  degree  of  sadism. 

There  is  the  sadistic  tendency,  too,  in  the 
puritanical  type  of  person.  In  his  mania  to 
suppress  every  evidence  of  what  he  conceives 
to  be  “grossly  sexual”,  the  professional  puri- 
tan takes  an  almost  uncanny  satisfaction  in 
visiting  punishment  upon  the  violator  of  his 
accepted  New  England  code  that  passed  for 
morality  in  the  seventeenth  century.  I do  not 
refer  to  legitimate  means  taken  agamst  pur- 
veyors of  obviously  filthy  and  obscene  works; 
but  when  accredited  medical  books  and  world 
renouned  scientific  literature  are  debarred 
from  the  mails  and  their  publishers  prose- 
cuted, even  persecuted,  it  warrants  some 
comment. 

In  its  purely  sexual  aspect,  sadism  is 
manifested  by  the  individual  (usually  male) 
who  obtains  satisfaction  by  inflicting  pain  on 
his  partner  in  the  sex  act.  It  may  be  present 
in  a very  slight  degree,  so  that  it  gratifies 
the  Unconscious  only;  or  it  may  be  more 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


89 


emphatic,  causing  extreme  pain  or  real  in- 
jury to  the  other  party.  The  most  pronounced 
perversions  or  patho  oglcal  form  of  sadism  is 
typified  in  the  Jack-the-Ripper,  who  secures 
sexual  satisfaction  by  atrocious  means,  such 
as  mutilating  or  murdering  his  victim. 

Masochism,  while  less  spectacular  than  its 
opposite,  sadism,  is  no  less  widespread.  The 
two  qualities  are  ever  present  in  every  in- 
dividual, although  in  widely  varying  propor- 
tions, and  const  tute  an  ambivalent  feature — 
that  is,  a condition  whereby  one  may  experi- 
ence two  opposite  feelings  at  the  same  time. 

Some  persons  are  said  to  be  gluttons  for 
punishment — they  can  take  beatings  and  seem 
to  thrive  on  them.  In  arduous  games  or  per- 
formances, such  as  football  and  prize  fights 
(already  referred  to  in  sadism)  the  participants 
both  give  and  take  punishment  at  the  same 
time — and  the  ideal  athlete  is  one  who  is 
adept  at  both. 

In  this  way  he  shows  his  sadistic-masoch- 
istic qualities.  Examples  of  this  kind  re  ate 
to  the  ego  rather  than  to  the  sexua1  nature. 
Nevertheless,  they  both  have  their  root  in  the 
unconscious  elements  of  the  personality. 

The  sexual  side  of  masochism  is  evidenced 
in  the  person  (usually  female)  who  obtains 
sexual  gratfication  through  being  inflicted 
with  a certain  amount  of  pain  during  inter- 
course. The  sex  act  is  usually  accompanied 
by  some  slight  suggest'on  of  pain  to  the 
woman,  a^hough  in  the  proper  re'ations,  not 
the  slightest  harm  or  injury  is  done,  but 


90 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


even  then  there  is  a symbolic  expression  of 
this  phenomenon — i.  e.,  in  the  mastery  of  the 
male  and  the  submission  of  the  female. 

There  are  male  masochists  in  the  pervert 
class  who  receive  sexual  gratification  by  allow- 
ing themselves  to  be  beaten — usually  hiring 
prostitutes  for  that  purpose. 

Freud  lays  the  cause  of  extreme  cases  of 
masochism  and  sadism  to  the  witnessing  by 
young  children  of  their  parents’  embracing. 
They  misunderstand  the  nature  of  the  act,  and 
the  sometimes  playful  imitations  of  violence 
by  the  man  and  pretended  suffering  indulged 
in  by  the  woman  may  lead  the  child  to  com- 
mit in  reality  cruelty  which  the  father  only 
shammed,  or  another  child  to  seek  suffering 
which  his  mother  seemed  to  feel.  In  other 
words,  the  incident  makes  such  an  impression 
on  the  mind  that  they  unconsciously  identify 
themselves  in  their  future  sexual  relations 
with  the  apparently  cruel  father  or  the  ap- 
parently abused  mother. 

It  is  the  masochistic  trait  in  a normal 
person  which  enables  him  or  her  to  render 
valuable  public  service  at  the  cost  of  pain  or 
personal  sacrifice,  such  as  nursing  or  admin- 
istering to  the  afflicted.  Another  example  is 
in  willingly  going  to  jail  or  suffering  punish- 
ment for  a principle  or  to  advance  a cause. 
On  the  other  hand,  a socially  useful  field  for 
sadistic  tendencies  will  be  found  in  surgery, 
dentistry,  the  butcher  business,  and  many 
other  activities. 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


91 


CHAPTER  VI. 

COMMONPLACE  MANIFESTATIONS  OF 
THE  UNCONSCIOUS. 

Many  of  our  actions,  when  analysed  in  the 
light  of  the  older  orthodox  psychology,  offer 
a very  puzzling  problem,  but  these  situations 
are  so  commonplace  that  we  experience  them 
every  day,  indeed  countless  times  each  day, 
without  giving  them  scarcely  a thought. 

Prominent  in  the  psycnoiogy  of  everyday 
actions  are  the  numerous  little  slips  or  errors 
that  we  make  in  speech,  writing,  reading, 
misplacing  articles,  forgetting  names,  dates, 
etc.,  that  are  well  known  to  us. 

Accepting  the  premise  of  mental  cause  and 
effect,  we  never  make  any  of  these  trifling 
errors  or  chance  actions  without  a cause.  As 
a matter  of  fact,  it  is  probably  safe  to  say 
that  we  never  actually  forget  anything,  but 
certain  memories  sink  to  the  bottom  of  our 
Unconscious  and  are  held  there  by  some  per- 
sonal complex,  so  that  they  cannot  rise  again 
to  the  surface,  or  Conscious,  when  needed. 

We  forget  ^ names  because  they  have  an 
unpleasant  unconscious  connotation.  Freud 
(A  General  Introduction  To  Psychoanalysis) 
remarks:  “If  anyone  once  has  a tendency  to 
forget  names,  you  can  establish  by  analytical 
investigation  that  he  not  only  loses  names 


92 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


because  he  himself  does  not  like  them,  or 
because  they  remind  him  of  something  he 
does  not  like,  but  also  because  the  same  name 
in  his  mind  belongs  to  another  chain  of  asso- 
ciation, with  which  he  has  more  intimate  rela- 
tions. The  name  is  anchored  there,  as  it  were, 
and  denied  to  the  other  associations  activated 
at  the  moment.” 

The  name  of  an  exceptionally  likeable  man 
or  striking  woman  seldom  has  to  be  repeated 
to  us.  Not  only  does  it  loom  large  in  our 
Conscious,  but  the  pleasing  or  attractive  per- 
sonality attracts  the  interest  of  our  Uncon- 
scious, so  that  it  has  no  wish  to  repress  the 
thoughts  which  are  associated  with  the  name. 

On  the  contrary,  the  names  of  indifferent 
or  object’onable  types  of  people  quickly  pass 
into  the  Unconscious,  or  remain  unnoticed  for 
lack  of  attention.  The  names  of  those  who 
direct'y  or  indirectly  react  on  some  painful 
complex  are  likeV  to  be  repressed,  and  there- 
fore not  remembered. 

Freud  has  ment'oned  how  unpleasantly  he 
was  affected  at  first  when  a patient  called  S. 
Freud  applied  for  treatment.  As  an  analyst, 
of  course,  he  understood  the  situation.  But 
how  many  people  there  are  who  experience 
and  sometimes  show  impatience  or  irritation 
when  meeting  a stranger  bearing  their  own 
name. 

As  our  name  constitutes  one  of  the  ele- 
ments of  our  personalty — it  has  been  asso- 
ciated with  us  since  birth — it  is  an  infringe- 
ment on  the  prerogatives  of  our  ego,  when 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


someone  else  with  the  same  name  comes  in 
contact  with  us.  So  at  least  the  Unconscious 
concludes 

To  most  of  us,  there  are  names,  either 
surnames  or  given  names,  that  we  have  a 
decided  prejudice  against.  It  is  invariably 
due  to  knowing,  or  having  at  one  time  known, 
someone  bearing  the  name  that  we  contracted 
an  antipathy  to. 

I once  inadvertently  addressed  as  Carrie,, 
a young  lady  by  the  name  of  Caroline  whom 
I had  come  to  know  quite  well.  She  good- 
naturedly  asked  me  not  to  call  her  by  that 
name.  It  wasn’t  that  I had  become  unduly 
familiar,  but  it  seemed  that  a neighbor  had  a 
mongrel  dog  which  answered  to  the  same 
name,  so  “Carrie”,  to  this  young  lady,  carried 
a canine  connotation  that  was  justly  distaste- 
ful to  her. 

The  association  of  names  has  a correspond- 
ing psychology  to  the  association  of  facial 
resemblance,  actions,  mannerisms  and  other 
idiosyncrasies.  A stranger  frequently  im- 
presses us  at  first  glance  either  favorably  or 
decidedly  unfavorably.  In  the  latter  case,  we 
may  say  to  ourselves,  “There  is  something 
about  him  I don’t  like.”  If  we  trace  this 
impress  on  down  to  its  real  cause,  we  usually 
find  that  there  is  some  resemblance,  uncon- 
sciously noticed,  to  a person  we  for  some 
reason  dislike.  As  we  become  better  ac- 
quainted, we  may  find  that  our  early  judgment 
was  unwarranted.  It  very  often  occurs  to  us 
that  an  association  of  personal  qualities  had 


94 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


been  made,  and  when  we  become  conscious  of 
the  reminiscence,  we  immediately  dismiss  our 
earlier  prejudices. 

So-called  absent-mindedness  is  another 
evidence  of  the  same  tendency  on  the  part 
of  the  Unconscious  to  avoid  *What  it  dislikes 
— even  though,  consciously,  we  may  take 
pleasure  in  the  same  thing.  Last  evening,  I 
brought  home  a half  dozen  steel  pens  and  put 
them,  wdth  the  little  paper  bag  they  were  in, 
on  my  desk.  Shortly  after,  I picked  up  the 
bag,  slightly  crumpled,  and  threw  it  in  the 
stove  with  some  scrap  paper.  About  an  hour 
•later,  when  I wanted  to  use  one  of  the  pens, 
I definitely  recalled  having  picked  up  the  bag 
and  burning  it  with  the  contents.  It  was  all 
done  more  or  less  automatically,  unconsciously. 
So  the  Unconscious,  which  hates  too  much 
continuous  application,  preferring  to  follow 
the  pleasure  principle,  played  a trick  on  me, 
by  causing  me  to  destroy  the  tools  with  which 
I work  and  keep  the  Unconscious  up  into  the 
early  morning  hours,  when  it  should  be 
sweetly  dreaming. 

Slips  of  the  tongue  are  among  the  com- 
monest of  errors  for  which  our  Unconscious 
can  be  held  responsible.  It  invariably  denotes 
a wish,  (which  is  suggested  by  the  word 
wrongly  used),  or  an  unpleasant  association 
(which  causes  us  to  unconsciously  avoid  using 
the  word  we  consciously  intended  to  use). 

If  John  should  be  talking  to  Marion  on 
some  very  intimate  subject  and  inadvertently 
addresses  her  as  Helen  (quickly  correcting 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


55 


himself,  of  course),  there  are  one  hundred 
chances  in  a hundred  that  he  is  thinking  then 
of  some  particular  Helen.  Marion,  however, 
not  knowing  the  significance  of  the  uncon- 
scious processes,  overlooks  this  evidence  of 
divided  allegience. 

While  making  a purchase  the  other  day, 
the  clerk,  who  happened  to  glance  at  a pretty 
woman  as  I asked  him  the  price  of  the  article, 
replied:  “Two  dollars,  Madam !”  His  uncon- 

scious was  occupied  with  a pleasurable  pursuit 
while  he  no  doubt  tried  consciously  to  attend 
to  business. 

A drug  clerk,  preparing  a cathartic,  courte- 
ously requested  the  customer  to  “Wait  just  a 
movement.” 

Stammering  in  most  cases  has  been  found 
due  to  a serious  personal  complex.  The 
momentary  hesitation  or  partial  loss  of  speech 
of  the  stammerer,  as  in  the  more  common- 
place examples  of  forgetting  a fact,  a word  or 
a duty,  is  motivated  by  an  absurd  unconscious 
reason. 

It  has  been  noted  that  persons  who  stam- 
mer or  suffer  from  an  impediment  of  speech 
in  conversation,  are  often  able  to  sing  well, 
and  sometimes  even  to  deliver  a lecture  with- 
out stammering  or  any  hesitancy  in  the  use 
of  words.  This  indicates  that  there  is  nothing 
wrong  with  the  vocal  mechanism,  but  that 
the  trouble  is  psychic,  which  may  often  be 
removed,  or  greatly  improved,  by  psycho- 
analysis. 

Misreading  involves  a different  psychic 


M 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


situation  from  that  of  tongue  slips  or  pen 
slips,  as  in  the  former  case  what  one  is  read- 
ing is  not  a product  of  one’s  own  psychic 
activity  as  in  the  other  instances.  In  the 
large  majority  of  cases  therefore  the  mis- 
reading consists  of  a complete  substitution. 

One  substitutes  another  word  for  the  word 
to  be  read  and  there  need  be  no  connection  in 
meaning  between  the  text  and  the  product  of 
the  m sreading.  In  general,  the  slip  is  based 
upon  a word  resemblance.  But  in  many  cases 
the  substitute  word  expresses  a wish  or  desire 
of  the  Unconscious,  and  sometimes  it  is  uttered 
to  avoid  a word  that  has  an  unpleasant  asso- 
ciat:on  or  connotation. 

As  an  example,  an  individual,  distressed  by 
certain  needs  wanders  about  a strange  town 
and  reads  the  word  “Toilet”  on  the  front  door 
of  a private  house.  Slight1 y surprised  by  the 
unusual  location  of  the  sign,  on  second  glance, 
he  then  accurately  observes  that  the  sign 
reads  “To  let”. 

In  reading  sentences,  it  sometimes  happens 
that  the  text  itself  arouses  the  disturbing 
tendency,  so  that  it  is  then  changed  into  the 
opposite — a negative  form  substituted  for  a 
positive,  or  vice  versa.  In  accepting  the  hypo- 
theses of  unconscious  psychic  activity,  it  is 
perfectly  plausible  that  an  intensive  wish  may 
cause  one  to  reject  what  appears  in  the  written 
sentence  (when  the  Conscious  is  not  vigi'antly 
on  the  a!ert)  and  so  the  unconscious  altera- 
tion is  made. 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


97 


CHAPTER  VII. 

RADICALISM  AND  OTHER  SOCIAL 
TENDENCIES. 

Radicalism  is  a manifestation  of  the  ego 
urge.  As  we  have  seen,  Freud  in  accounting 
for  our  traits  and  characteristics  lays  the 
greatest  emphasis  on  the  sex  urge — although 
not  in  the  restricted  sense  that  that  term  is 
generally  understood.  It  is  Adler,  who  in 
breaking  with  the  purely  Freud1  in  orthodoxy, 
emphasizes  the  dominance  of  the  ego  urge. 
He  considers  the  sex  urge,  while  important, 
quite  a secondary  factor  in  our  conduct,  main- 
taining that  it  is  in  itself  largely  one  of  the 
many  expressions  of  the  ego. 

Those  who  would  argue  that  this  disagree- 
ment between  two  of  the  great  authorities 
proves  that  the  new  psychology  is  scientific- 
ally weak,  are  however  in  error.  They  both 
accept  the  principle  of  a dominating  influence 
in  our  personality,  and  starting  with  this 
premise  carry  the  hypothesis  out  to  its  logical 
conclusion.  Freud,  however,  interprets  the 
principle  from  the  angle  which  is  clearest  to 
him;  and  Adler,  interprets  the  same  phenom- 
ena as  they  appear  to  him.  Ad]er,  by  the  way, 
calls  his  system,  Individual  Psychology,  in- 
stead of  Psycho-analysis. 

Radicalism  is  an  expression  of  the  ego  urge 


98 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

which  revolts  against  the  countless  inhibitions 
and  restraints  of  organized  society — many  of 
them  irrational  and  irritating  enough  to  be 
sure. 

As  we  have  observed,  the  great  masses  of 
people  have  never  risen  above  a childhood  age- 
level.  Therefore,  it  is  a part  of  mass  psy- 
chology that  the  inhibitions  of  childhood,  as 
personified  in  parental  authority,  should  be 
continued  on  in  the  authority  of  organized 
society.  Everywhere  we  are  fenced  in  by 
“Don’ts” — in  fact  the  great  majority  of  people 
expect  them,  and  would  be  quite  at  sea  with- 
out this  constant  expression  of  authority  to 
look  up  to. 

Those  who  most  sincerely  respect  and  up- 
hold this  situation  are  grown-up  children — 
called  adults — who  carry  about  in  their  Un- 
conscious a dominating  parent-image,  or 
authority  complex.  Unable  to  come  to  any 
rational  decisions  by  way  of  independent 
thinking  on  their  own  account,  they  always 
look  to  some  superior  authority  when  in 
doubt — as  the  child  does  to  his  father. 

To  the  child,  the  father,  whether  wise  or 
ignorant,  is  the  personification  of  wisdom  and 
power.  As  a matter  of  fact,  the  ignorant 
parent  is  apt  to  use  his  physical  power  in  lieu 
of  wisdom.  The  adult  child  finds  his  fancied 
protection,  not  in  attempting  to  reason  out 
the  why  and  wherefore  and  whence  of  prob- 
lems that  confront  him,  but  in  leaning  on  the 
strength  of  superior  authority,  which  he 
recognizes  in  established  institutions — the 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


99 


state,  and  all  its  subdivisions,  the  church,  and, 
to  a degree  that  he  does  not  consciously 
realize  the  newspaper  he  reads  and  frequently 
ridicules. 

The  radical  is  a person  whose  ego  rebels 
against  one  or  several  socially  organized  re- 
pressions. If  a rebel  against  religious  dogma 
or  church  authority,  he  may  be  called  a free- 
thinker, agnostic  or  atheist.  If  a rebel  against 
the  principle  of  state  authority,  or  as  at 
present  organized,  he  may  be  either  a Socialist, 
a Communist  or  an  anarchist.  If  against  the 
injustice  of  man-dominated  laws  and  institu- 
tions, she,  (as  it  usually  is  in  this  case),  is 
said  to  be  a feminist.  If  against  industrial 
subjection,  the  protestant  may  be  of  almost 
any  degree  of  mildness  or  extremity,  from  the 
pure  and  simple  trade  unionist  to  the  I.  W.  W. 

The  development  of  modern  industry,  with 
its  constant  trend  toward  specialization,  is 
directly  responsible,  from  a psychological 
viewpoint,  for  acute  outbreaks  of  the  ego  urge 
in  the  way  of  radical  agitation.  The  desire 
for  individual  achievement,  for  gratifying  the 
instinct  of  workmanship,  contrivance  or  con- 
structiveness, is  not  satisfied  by  wholesale 
machine  production.  Thus,  in  the  fundamental 
cravings  of  the  ego,  there  is  prepared  a fertile 
background  for  discontent.  This  is  true  irre- 
spective of  the  question  of  wages  and  other 
working  conditions. 

In  the  old  days  of  handicraft,  when 
the  mechanic  made  his  product  from  start  to 
finish,  instead  of  specializing  on  a single  part, 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


100 

or  a single  operation,  he  was  able  to  display 
his  originality  and  personality.  This  oppor- 
tunity for  creative  endeavor  fulfilled  a psy- 
chological need  that  is  lost  to  modern  industry. 
It  is  the  problem  of  any  society  that  can  claim 
to  be  fundamentally  sound  to  overcome  this 
defect  by  substituting  some  other  constructive 
outlet  for  the  creative  instinct. 

The  conservative,  being  influenced  by  the 
symbolic  parent  complex  defends  the  status 
quo,  whether  right  or  wrong,  just  or  unjust, 
merely  because  it  exists,  is  powerful,  and 
typifies  authority.  The  true  reactionary  has 
regressed  to  the  point  where  he  will  not  tol- 
erate even  questioning  the  rights  of  estab- 
lished institutions.  The  thought  of  changing 
them,  however  slightly,  is  unbearable.  Mere 
discussion  of  the  merits  or  demerits  of  author- 
ity as  at  present  constituted,  is  wicked, 
irreverent,  treason.  His  very  anxiety  and 
cocksureness  indicate  an  unconscious  doubt  of 
the  virtue  and  security  of  the  power  which  he 
defends  and  so  he  compensates  for  the  same 
by  an  assumption  of  unqualified  arrogance. 
The  best  that  can  be  said  of  him  is  that  he 
has  a dignified  neurosis — and  often  it  is  not 
so  dignified. 

The  War  Spirit. 

The  economic  causes  of  war  need  not  be 
disparaged  or  underrated  to  admit  of  the 
psychological  contribution  to  war.  In  fact, 
directly  leading  up  to  the  proclamation  of  war, 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


and  after  the  combat  starts,  the  psychologic 
output  ranks  second  to  none  among  all  the 
military  paraphernalia  produced.  But  it  is 
stimulated  rather  than  manufactured.  The 
underlying  mechanism  is  already  there,  under 
the  thin  cultural  veneer,  only  requiring  to  be 
fanned  into  arsenals  of  emotional  explosives. 

Behind  our  few  thousands  of  years  of  none 
too  successful  attempts  at  a higher  social  and 
ethical  development,  there  is  in  the  evolu- 
tionary course  of  human  and  prehuman  ex- 
istence a heritage  of  millions  of  years  of  the 
claw-and-fang  struggle  that  in  the  great 
majority  of  individuals  craves  an  outlet. 

The  atavistic  urges  that  we  have  repressed 
in  normal  t'mes,  cropping  out  in  a mild  and 
distorted  form  through  dreams  at  night, 
phantasies  and  wit  by  day,  are  given  the 
freest  outlet  possible  in  war.  In  the  case  of 
soldiers  in  the  enemy  territory,  they  are  at 
their  worst,  including  various  forms  of  out- 
rages (the  invading  army  is  always  accused 
of  atrocities,  and  with  more  or  less  justifica- 
tion). 


But  not  only  at  the  front  is  this  spirit  in 
evidence;  it  is  universal  wherever  the'  influ- 
ence of  war  prevails.  We  read  it  in  editorials, 
fiction,  poetry,  news  articles  and  what  not;  we 
hear  it  on  the  lecture  platform,  in  the  pulpit, 
in  schools,  on  the  street,  in  shops,  offices  and 
in  our  homes;  we  see  it  parading  before  us, 
fluttering  above  us — it  is  visible  everywhere. 

If  our  neighbor’s  veneer  of  civilization  is  a 
little  thicker  than  our  own  and  he  does  not 


92  ^ PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

respond  so  readily  to  the  primitive  call  of  the 
tom-toms  and  blare  of  the  war  spirit,  we 
suspect  his  patriotism,  or  even,  shout  “traitor.” 

If  we  profiteer  and  a humble  citizen  pro- 
tests against  our  extortionate  demands  for 
necessities;  or  if  a worker  resents  the  condi- 
tions we  prescribe  that  he  shall  labor  under, 
we  suspect  him  too,  and  may  even  report  him 
to  the  secret  service.  “Indeed,  the  time  of 
war  is  one  for  sacrifice!” 

We  believe  it  was  no  less  an  authority  than 
former  United  States  Attorney  General 
Gregory  who  issued  the  edict  early  in  the 
Great  War,  which  was  placarded  in  public 
places  all  over  the  country:  “Obey  the  Law 

and  Keep  Your  Mouth  Shut!”  Surely,  as 
edifying  in  its  purport  as  it  is  elegant  in  its 
phraseology.  It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine 
popularizing  anything  so  crude  except  under 
the  influence  of  the  war  spirit — and  among 
grown-up  children. 

We  doubt  whether  Mr.  Gregory  is  much  of 
a psychologist,  surely  not  a Freudian,  but 
nevertheless  his  command  had  more  sig- 
nificance than  was  generally  realized.  These 
stirring  words,  to  many  an  adult-child,  carried 
the  connotation  of  parental  authority.  The 
brusque  warning  might  be  laughed  at  as  a 
joke,  or  slightly  resented  as  an  infringement 
on  a citizen’s  right  to  express  himself,  but 
nevertheless,  to  the  great  majority,  it  symbol- 
ized the  voice  of  the  great  father — the  state. 

Among  by  no  means  the  minor  atrocities  of 
war  are  the  outbursts  of  “poetry”  and  other 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  103 

“literary”  effusions  which,  true  to  the  occa- 
sion, are  born  of  the  spirit  of  Mars.  It  is  no 
uncommon  thing  at  the  fever  heat  of  war  to 
hear  clergymen — the  annointed  spokesmen  of 
the  Prince  of  Peace — declaiming  the  dogma  of 
the  enemy’s  utter  destruction,  and  the  annihil- 
ation of  all  for  which  he  stands.  This  is  so  in 
all  countries,  so  is  not  a case  of  right  or 
wrong,  or  church,  or  God.  Otherwise  the 
Godly  would  be  able  to  recognize  the  right  on 
the  side  that  upheld  the  obviously  moral  issue, 
regardless  of  whether  it  was  their  own  or  their 
opponent’s.  However,  a clergyman’s  elemen- 
tary urges  are  frequently  more  constantly 
repressed  than  the  average,  so  it  is  only 
natural  that  when  the  ethical  inhibitions  of 
society  are  largely*  removed,  that  he  should  go 
just  as  far  or  even  a little  bit  farther  than  the 
rest. 

It  will  be  noted  that  all  these  tendencies 
are  peculiar  to  the  neurotic — to  flee  from  the 
rational  foundation  of  reality  and  take  refuge 
in  an  unreal  world  that  corresponds  with  the 
frantic  emotional  cravings.  It  is  further 
emphasized  in  the  suppression  of  inanimate 
things  which  are  merely  symbolic  of  the 
enemy.  We  prevent  the  speaking  of  his 
language,  the  circulation  of  his  literature 
(even  the  classics),  the  singing  or  playing  of 
his  music,  the  display  of  anything  suggestive 
of  him.  In  other  words,  by  banishing  from 
the  sight  of  our  eyes  and  the  sound  of  our  ears 
the  evidences  of  his  existence,  we  fancy  we 
are  the  more  secure  and  triumphant.  Thus, 


104  PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 

figuratively,  we  follow  the  example  of  the 
ostrich  and  bury  our  head  in  the  sand;  by  not 
seeing  the  enemy,  or  his  works,  we  tend  to 
deny  his  existence.  He  is  less  of  a menace  to 
us.  This  is  the  attitude  of  the  neurotic  sub- 
ject, and  as  before  stated  we  all  have  neurotic 
tendencies  of  some  degree,  seeking  an  outlet. 
War  is  the  great  outlet  for  repressed  emotions. 

A similar  phenomenon  on  a smauer  social 
scale  is  evidenced  in  the  psychology  of  rioting, 
lynching  and  other  mob  activities.  The  ethics 
of  established  social  practices,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  mob  spirit,  fade  away  like  so 
much  vapor.  Life  may  be  taken,  property 
destroyed — it  is  a momentary  return  to  the 
crude,  primitive  self;  a gratification  of  its 
archaic  desires;  a release  6f  the  psychic  ten- 
sion and  suppressed  emotions. 

Freud,  in  his  “Reflections  On  War  and 
Death”  makes  the  following  striking  observa- 
tion on  the  superficiality  of  our  social  ethics: 
“The  individual  citizen  can  prove  With  dismay 
that  the  State  forbids  him  to  do  wrong,  not 
because  it  wishes  to  do  away  with  wrong- 
doing, but  because  it  Wishes  to  monopolize 
it  . . . A state  at  war  makes  use  of  every 
act  of  violence,  that  would  dishonor  the  indi- 
vidual. It  employs  not  only  permissible  cun- 
ning but  conscious  lies  and  intentional  decep- 
tion against  the  enemy  . . .demands  the  utmost 
obedience  and  sacrifice  of  its  cit  zens,  but  at 
the  same  time,  it  treats  them  like  children 
through  an  excess  of  secrecy  and  a censorship 
of  news  and  expression  of  opinion  which  render 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


105 


the  minds  of  those  who  are  thus  intellectually 
repressed,  defenseless  aganist  every  unfavor- 
able situation  and  every  wild  rumor.  It  ab- 
solves itself  from  guarantees  and  treaties  by 
which  it  was  bound  to  other  states,  and  makes 
unabashed  confession  of  its  greed  and  aspira- 
tion to  powrer. 

War  is  a national — international — organis- 
ed neurosis  biologically  made  possible  by  our 
long  heritage  of  primitive  instincts  and  emo- 
tions, on  y superficially  veneered  by  the 
ethics  of  civilization. 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS 


1©6 


Bibliography 

The  following  short  list  of  important  books 
on  Psycho-analysis  and  related  subjects  will  be 
helpful  to  the  reader  who  is  desirous  of  con- 
tinuing the  study.  The  works  of  Wilfrid  Lay, 
Barbara  Low  and  Andre  Tridon  are  especially 
recommended  to  the  beginner. 

ADLER,  ALFRED.  The  Neurotic  Constitution. 

Moffat,  Yard,  New  York. 

BJERRE,  P.  The  History  and  Practice  of  Psy- 
cho-analysis, Badger,  Boston. 

CORIAT,  I.  The  Meaning  of  Dreams.  Little, 
Brown,  Boston. 

FERENCZI,  S.  Contributions  to  Psycho-an- 
alysis. Badger,  Boston. 

FIELDING,  WILLIAM  J.  Sanity  in  Sex.  Dodd, 
Mead,  New  York.  Contains  valuable  sug- 
gestions for  the  student  of  sex  problems. 
FREUD,  S.  The  Psychopathology  of  Every- 
day Life.  Macmillan,  New  York. 

FREUD,  S.  The  Interpretation  of  Dreams. 
Macmillan. 

FREUD,  S.  Three  Contributions  to  the  The- 
ory of  Sex. 

FREUD,  S.  A General  Introduction  to  Psy- 
cho-analysis. Boni  & Liveright,  New  York. 
(Freud  has  written  a number  of  other  books 
that  deal  with  highly  technical  phases  of 
psycho-analysis.  The  four  volumes  cuoted 
give  a wide  survey  of  the  general  subject.) 


PSYCHO-ANALYSIS  ldT 

JUNG,  C.  G.  The  Psychology  of  the  Uncon- 
scious. Moffat,  Yard. 

LAY,  WILFRID.  Man’s  Unconscious  Conflict. 
Dodd,  Mead. 

LAY,  WILFRID.  Man’s  Unconscious  Passion. 
Dodd,  Mead. 

LOW,  BARBARA.  Psycho-analysis.  A Brief 
Account  of  the  Freudian  Theory.  Harcourt, 
Brace  & Howe,  New  York. 

PFISTER,  O.  The  Psycho-analytic  Method. 
Moffat,  Yard. 

TRIDON,  ANDRE.  Psycho-analysis,  Its  His- 
tory, Theory  and  Practice.  B.  W.  Huebsch, 
New  York. 

TRIDON,  ANDRE.  Psycho-analysis  and  Be- 
havior. A.  Knopf,  New  York. 

TRIDON,  ANDRE.  Psycho-analysis,  Sleep  and 
Dreams.  Knopf. 

(Tridon  is  considered  the  most  popular 
American  exponent  of  psycho-analysis.) 


Sanity  in  Sex 

BY  AVILLIAM  J.  FIELDING. 

Author  of  Psycho-Analysis — The  Key  to  Human 
Behavior. 

An  illuminating  exposition  of  the  sex  question 
from  the  standpoint  of  vital  individual,  social  and 
economic  problems.  Discusses  Fig  Leaf  Moral- 
ity, Birth  Control,  Psycho-Analysis,  Sex  Hygiene, 
Sex  Knowledge  for  Parents,  Children  and  from 
the  intimate  side  of  Marriage,  and  many  other 
phases  of  sexual  phenomena,  from  an  or  ginal 
and  thought-provoking  angle.  It  is  replete  with 
concrete  illustrations  of  individual  and  social 
tragedies  of  the  most  striking  character,  and 
notable  examples  of  official  hypocrisy  and  pru- 
dery that  are  nothing  short  of  criminal.  In  this 
respect  the  book  is  a mine  of  facts  and  informa- 
tion for  all  students  of  social  and  economic  con- 
ditions. But  it  is  more  than  critical  of  the  short- 
comings of  society;  it  is  helpful  and  con  tructive 
to  the  individual.  The  volume  is  highly  ^n^orsed 
by  many  European  and  American  authorities,  in- 
cluding Havelock  Ellis,  Margaret  Sanger,  Dr.  Maud 
Thompson,  Dr.  Lee  Alexander  Stone,  August 
Cffiessens,  etc. 

Handsomely  bound  in  cloth.  333  pages.  An  in- 
dispensable volume  for  those  interested  in  the 
vital  urge  of  sex. 


Price  $2.25. 

APPEAL  TO  REASON, 
Girard,  Kans. 


Oliver  Cromwell 
and  His  Times 


Here  is  one  of  the  best  written 
nooks  on  this  great  statesman,  writ- 
ten by  Hilda  Johnstone.  M.  A.,  as- 
sistant lecturer  in  the  History  at  the 
Manchester  University.  England. 

This  book  is  a valuable  biograph- 
ical and  historical  work,  and  in  Eng- 
land it  is  accepted  as  being  com- 
pletely authoritative. 

You  will  learn,  in  this  book,  who 
Cromwell  was,  what  sort  of  a char- 
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were.  The  descriptions  of  his  meth- 
ods will  prove  especially  interesting, 
we  are  positive.  Also,  the  picture 
>f  the  England  of  Cromwell’s  times 
will  prove  fascinating  to  lovers  of 
history.. 

To  understand  the  present  one 
must  study  the  past,  and  of  histor- 
ical characters  Cromwell  stands  as 
one  of  the  most  vigorous  and  stimu- 
lating. 

25  cents  per  copy. 
APPEAL  TO  REASON, 
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The  Man  Who 
Would  be  King 

BY  RUDYARD  KIPLING. 

Kipling  is  one  of  the  greatest  short 
story  writers  in  the  English  language. 
No  matter  what  one  might  think  of 
some  of  his  ideas,  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  his  short  stories  are  creations 
of  a high  order  and  deserve  atten- 
tion from  the  most  discriminating 
readers. 

In  this  story,  “The  Man  Who 
Would  Be  King,”  we  have  what  is 
probably  his  greatest  short  story. 
This  is  rather  a long  story — in  fact, 
it  might  even  be  called  a novelette, 
covering  as  it  does  128  pages.  We 
are  sure  that  those  who  read  “The 
Man  Who  Would  Be  King”  will  be 
fascinated  by  Kipling’s  methods  as 
a story  writer.  In  addition  to  excel- 
lent craftsmanship,  Kipling  combines 
a sense  for  the  dramatic  that  is  very 
compelling. 

There  is  no  questioning  the  fact 
that  “The  Man  Who  Would  Be  King” 
is  Kipling’s  most  popular  tale.  We 
doubt  whether  he  has  ever  done  a 
finer  piece  of  work. 

25  cents  per  copy. 

APPEAL  TO  REASON, 
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Karl  Marx  and  the 
American  Civil  War 

Do  you  know  Karl  Marx,  the 
founder  of  scientific  Socialism,  held 
the  fort  for  the  Union  during  the 
American  Civil  War?  Do  you  know 
that  Marx  caused  vast  mass  meet- 
ings to  be  held  in  England  in  protest 
against  threatened  British  interven- 
tion in  favor  of  the  South?  Do  you 
know  that  Palmerston  was  about  to 
declare  war  on  the  United  States 
and  that  it  was  only  through  the 
efforts  of  Karl  Marx  and  his  col- 
leagues in  the  labor  and  Socialist 
movement  that  war  was  prevented? 
Do  you  know  that  Lincoln  acknowl- 
edged this  service  in  the  cause  of 
freedom  and  progress,  through  his 
ambassador  to  England,  Charles 
Francis  Adams?  Do  you  know  that 
Karl  Marx  drew  up  a declaration  to 
Lincoln,  pledging  him  support  in  his 
brave  fight?  Do  you  know  all  this? 
If  not,  you  will  want  to  read  the 
original  documents  which  we  have 
gathered  into  a highly  important 
book  which  we  call  “Karl  Marx  and 
the  American  Civil  War.” 

25  cents  per  copy. 

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The  Discovery  of 
The  Future 

BY  H.  G.  WELLS 

Here  is  a book  of  prophetic  vision 
n which  the  author,  pre-eminent 
among  English  writers  of  today, 
^hows  that  by  utilizing  the  intellect- 
ual forces  which  have  enabled  us  to 
vrite  the  history  of  the  past,  we  may 
with  reasonable  certainty  forecast 
the  future. 

Wit,  humor  and  the  distillation  of 
a life-time’s  pondering,  combine  to 
make  this  work  a noteworthy  con- 
tribution to  current  literature.  It 
will  stimulate  thought  and  provoke 
discussion.  No  admirer  of  Wells  can 
afford  not  to  read  it. 

Wells  is  getting  a great  deal  of 
attention  in  this  country  now  on  ac- 
count of  his  report  of  what  he  saw 
in  Soviet  Russia.  The  contents  of 
“The  Discovery  of  the  Future”  will 
make  his  friends  warmer  and  win 
over  those  who  do  not,  as  yet.  know 
him. 

25  cents  per  copy 

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Henrik  Ibsen’s 
Epigrams 

Ibsen  shocked  the  world  to  ili 
foundations.  He  threw  out  his  icor 
oclastic  ideas  as  though  they  w er* 
bombs — and  they  did  act  like  bomfe^ 
— mental  bombs,  destroying  the  old- 
fogyism  of  the  reactionaries  and  tfes 
hypocrites. 

Ibsen  said  some  startling  things 
about  Love.  Marriage,  Ses.  Property 
Society,  Government,  Idealism,  Sc 
cialism,  Morality,  Religion  and  the 
Church.  Wouldn’t  you  like  to 
r book  which  contains  the  most  strife 
ing  things  he  ever  said  or  wrot®, 
whether  in  a lecture,  in  an  article 
or  in  a play?  Well,  here  it  is.  Al- 
most four  hundred  excerpts  are  ir 
this  book — enough  to  give  you  e 
thorough  idea  of  Ibsenism.  the  mi! 
who  wasn’t  afraid  of  new  ideas  and 
who  knew  how  to  express  them. 

To  know  Ibsen  is  to  know  a rar« 
spirit  and  a stimulating  thinker. 
hope  you  will  not  miss  this  chan®* 
to  get  acquainted. 

25  cents  per  copy. 
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The  Dictatorship  of 
the  Proletariat 

By  Karl  Kautsky 

Karl  Kautsky,  the  author  of  “The 
Dctatorship  of  the  Proletariat,”  of 
which  an  English  translation  is 
now  submitted  to  the  American 
public  for  the  first  time,  is  the  most 
eminent  Socialist  writer  on  the  con- 
tinent. For  more  than  thirty  years 
Kautsky  has  served  International 
Socialism  with  high  literary  abil- 
ity, great  learning,  and  unusual 
aptitude  for  sociological  research* 
“The  Dictatorship  of  the  Prole- 
tariat” contains  ten  chapters,  as 
follows:  1.  The  Problem.  2.  Democ- 
racy and  the  Conquest  of  Political 
Power.  3.  Democracy  and  the  Rip- 
ening of  the  Proletariat.  4.  The 
Effects  of  Democracy.  5.  Dicta- 
torship. 6.  Constituent  Assembly 
and  Soviet.  7.  Soviet  Republic. 
8.  The  Object  Lesson.  9.  The 
Legacy  of  the  Dictatorship.  10. 
The  New  Theory. 

50  cents  per  copy,  postage  prepaid. 

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Whittier’s 

“Snowbound” 

“Snowbound”  is  Whittier’s  most 
beautiful  long  poem.  It  has  a re- 
spected place  in  our  literature.  Whit- 
tier devoted  his  talent  mainly  to  writ- 
ing Abolition  poetry,  much  of  which 
was  of  a high  order.  However,  it  is 
our  opinion  that  in  “snow-bound”’  he 
reached  the  climax  of  his  ability. 
For  poetical  descriptions  of  a coun- 
tryside completely  covered  with  snow 
we  know  of  no  other  poem  in  our 
literature  that  can  compare  with  it. 
The  beauty  of  the  scene  literally 
breathes  through  this  poem. 

Not  only  does  this  volume  contain 
Whittier’s  greatest  poem,  but  it  also 
contains  Robert  Browning’s  “The 
Pied  Piper  of  Hamelim”  This  poem 
is  a very  popular  one  and  is  always 
in  great  demand.  In  all.  these  two 
poems  make  this  volume  decidedly 
worth  while  and  we  recommend  it 
to  all  lovers  of  real  poetry. 

25  cents  per  copy. 
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Tolstoi’s 

“Redemption” 

Of  ail  of  Leo  Tolstoi’s  dramas, 
‘Redemption”  is  his  most  powerful. 
It  is  his  greatest  play  and  probably 
one  of  the  greatest  in  any  language. 
“Redemption”  reads  well.  You  will 
like  it.  Here  is  great  literature — 
literature  that  was  created  for  the 
ages. 

This  play  covers  96  pages.  It  was 
produced  last  year  in  New  York  and 
created  an  enormous  sensation.  Here 
is  a chance  to  get  acquainted  with 
one  of  the  greatest  plays  ever  writ- 
ten. Previous  editions  of  this  book 
cost  $2,  but  the  Appeal’s  policy  is 
great  literature  at  low  prices,  so  you 
get  the  benefit.  The  price  is  no 
longer  any  excuse  for  not  getting 
the  best  kind  of  literature  in  your 
library 

“Redemption”  is  a wonderful 
drama,  and  you  will  never  forget  its 
powerful  climaxes  and  its  profound 
lessons. 

25  cents  per  copy. 

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Tolstoi 

Versus 

Marx 

Clarence  Darrow  is  a non-resistant 
Tolstoyan;  Arthur  Morrow  Lewis  is 
a Marxian  Socialist.  Both  have  keen, 
intelligent  minds,  both  have  inter 
esting  viewpoints,  and  both  are  pleas- 
ing speakers.  Darrow  and  Lewis  met 
in  debate.  The  subject  was  “Tolstoy 
Versus  Marx,”  and  the  Appeal  has  a 
stenographic  report  of  this  wonderful 
contest  of  brains. 

Here  is  thrilling  reading.  Here  is 
your  chance  to  learn  just  what  is 
meant  by  Tolstoyan  non-resistance; 
what  is  meant  by  class-consciousness, 
militant  Marxism;  just  why  each  con- 
testant holds  his  particular  position. 
We  are  proud  of  the  opportunity  to 
print  so  useful  * and  entertaining  a 
book.  This  debate  has  been  printed 
before,  but  in  a 75-cent  edition.  Our 
price  is  only  one-third  of  that. 

25  cents  per  copy. 

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Carmen 

A Story  of  Love. 

This  is  one  of  the  world’s  great- 
est stories  of  love  and  adventure 
Upon  it  is  founded  the  great  mus- 
ical opera  of  “Carmen.”  The  read 
ing  of  “Carmen”  is  one  of  the  best 
of  proofs  that  good  literature  has 
more  of  real  dramatic  human  in- 
terest than  the  melo-dramatic  mon- 
strosities in  whose  shallow  sensa- 
tions so  many  persons  riotously 
revel.  “Carmen”  has  more  genu- 
ine excitement  to  the  page  than 
he  average  novel  has  in  the  whole 
of  its  several  hundred  pages. 

Set  among  the  mountains  and 
along  the  coasts  of  Spain,  and  de- 
scribing the  life  of  the  gypsies  who 
make  their  precarious  living  by  the 
smuggler’s  shady  trade,  the  story 
abounds  with  thrill  and  color.  The 
beautiful,  yet  fickle  and  dangerous, 
gypsy  girl.  Carmen,  is  a character 
in  whom  the  volatile  yet  passionate 
spirit  of  the  gypsy  folk  is  strongly 
pictured 

**ents  per  copy 
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Sex  Life  In 

Ancient  Greece 
and  Rome 

This  book  contains  two  important 
essays,  as  follows:  “The  Greefc 

View  of  Woman/’  by  G.  Lowes  Dick- 
inson, and  “Marriage:  and  the  Ro 
man  Lady,”  by  W.  Warde  Fowler 
M.  A,  The  essay  on  Greece  tells  ci 
Plato’s  views  favoring  the  elimina- 
tion of  family  life  entirely,  Grecian 
standards  of  morality,  Athenian  the- 
ories of  eugenics,  the  Homeric  view 
of  woman  and  sex,  Aristotle's  views 
and  the  position  of  illicit  love.  The 
essay  on  Rome  tells  what  the  Roman? 
thought  about  marriage,  the  form  o? 
the  sacramental  ceremony,  an  accu 
rate  description  of  a Roman  wedding 
divorce  customs,  etc. 

We  have  many  books  on  the  mili- 
tary history  and  statesmanship  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  but  there  are  few 
books  on  the  domestic  relationship* 
of  the  ancients.  Here  is  a book  that 
has  been  badly  needed.  The  infor- 
mation in  it  will  interest  and  enter- 
tain you. 

25  cents  per  copy. 
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The  Foundations 
of  Religion 

This  boon,  by  Stanley  A.  Cook, 
M.  A.,  is  based,  upon  the  application 
of  psychology  and  psychological 
methods  to  the  comparative  and  his- 
torical study  of  religions  and  reli- 
gious material.  There  never  was  a 
book  like  this  one. 

“The  Foundations  of  Religion”  con- 
tains even  big  chapters,  as  follows: 
“Religion  and  Life.”  “Thought  and 
?ts  Movement.*  “The  Individual  and 
His  Development,”  “The  Individual 
and  the  Universe,”  “The  Individual 
and  the  Supernatural,”  “Process  in 
Mankind,”  “Religion  and  Intuition.” 
This  marvelous  book  will  interest 
and  stimulate.  Its  128  pages  of  facts 
and  ideas  will  charm  you.  The  Ap- 
peal has  imported  this  work  of  litera- 
ture and  thought  from  England, 
where  it  has  been  looked  upon  for  a 
number  of  years  as  one  of  the  great 
books  written  on  the  subject  of  re- 
ligion. This  book  could  easily  be 
sold  for  $2.50.  But  the  Appeal  be- 
lieves in  issuing  books  at  a low  price, 
and  that  is  why  you  can  get  a copy 
of  this  book  by  return  mail  for  only 
25  cents 

25  cents  per  copy. 

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GIRARD,  KANS. 


English  as  She 
Is  Taught 

BY  MARK  TWAIN. 

This  is  one  of  the  most  amusing 
thing  Mark  Twain  ever  wrote.  I 
s a tin*  kit  on  the  manner  in  which 
our  iear  old  language,  and  othe? 
things  are  murdered  Here  is  a 
humorist  whose  writings  abound  in 
wisdom  shrewd  ideas  of  human  na 
ture  svmnathy  and  enthusiasm. 

We  strongly  recommend  “English 
as  She  P Taught”  for  its  bubbling 
humor  and  its  delightful  nonsense 
It  is  a book  that  will  bring  cheer 
into  vout  life  and  make  vou  forge 
vour  troubles. 

This  volume  contains  an  exceller 
biographical  sketch  of  Mark  Twain, 
giving  briefly  the  most  interesting 
episode-  n an  eventful  and  usefu1 
life.  Tf  you  don’t  like  to  'ugh  w 
advise  you  very  solemnly  not  to  buy 
this  book  Rut  if  you  do  well,  her- 
is  vnnr  r»h«nce. 

25  cents  per  copy. 

APPEAL  to  reason, 

Girard,  Kans. 


Balzac’s  Short 
Stories 

We  have  an  edition  of  Balzac’s 
greatest  short  stories  that  is  just 
off  the  press.  This  new  volume 
contains  the  following  titles: 
“Doomed  to  Live,”  “An  Accursed 
House,”  “The  Atheist’s  Mass,”  “A 
Tragedy  by  the  Sea,”  and  “The 
Passion  in  the  Desert.”  Five  scin- 
tillating stories  of  life,  passion  and 
adventure.  Take  just  one  of  these 
stories — “The  Passion  in  the  Des- 
ert.” This  is  one  of  the  most  pecu- 
liar stories  ever  written.  Only  a 
trained  and  master  hand  like  Bal- 
zac’s could  have  penned  it  with  the 
right  convincing  and  realistic 
touch. 

Balzac  wrote  not  of  men  but  of 
mankind — a true  genius.  This 
story  alone  is  worth  what  is  asked 
for  this  book  by  Balzac,  who  was 
as  great  a master  of  the  short 
stories  as  he  was  of  the  long  novel. 

25  cents  per  copy. 

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Thoughts 

and 

A phorisms 

of  George  Sand 

George  Sand  was  a famous 
French  novelist.  She  was  not  onl> 
a gifted  writer  but  an  artist  in 
the  mysterious  ceremony  of  Life 
and  Love.  George  Sand  was  a wo 
man  who  felt  deeply  and  who  ex 
pressed  those  emotions,  regardless 
of  the  opinions  of  prudes  and  hyp- 
ocrites. 

In  her  “Thoughts  and  Aphor- 
isms/’ she  tells  what  she  thinks- 
about  Love,  Sex,  Passion,  the  Hu 
man  Heart,  the  vast  Duel  of  the 
Sexes.  Never  was  there  a book 
that  struck  such  a fascinating  tone 

25  cents  per  copy. 

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The  Science  of 
History 

BY  JAMES  ANTHONY  FROUDE. 

Is  the  human  race  a free  agent, 
completely  independent  of  the  laws 
of  nature?  Can  we  accurately  say 
just  what  a people  will  do  granted 
certain  economic,  political  or  emo- 
tional conditions?  Accepting  certain 
arrangements  why  will  one  man  go 
to  the  cross  a martyr  while  another 
will  become  a Judas?  Can  we  know 
in  advance  which  will  be  a martyr 
and  which  will  be  a traitor? 

In  other  words,  can  history  become 
a positive  science?  This  is  the  theme 
of  Froude’s  important  essay  and  one 
which  should  be  read  by  every  per- 
son who  is  interested  in  what  makes 
for  social  progress  and  what  makes 
for  social  reaction. 

“The.  Science  of  History”  not 
only  an  excellent  study  of  history 
as  a science,  but  it  is,  m addition,  a 
fine  literary  work,  replete  with  many 
epigrammatic  sentences  which  per- 
sist in  one’s  memory.  By  the  way. 
Froude,  who  delivered  this  lecture 
Pack  in  1864,  anticipated  Dr.  Ein- 
stein’s theory  of  the  relativity  of 
Time. 

25  cents  per  copy. 
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Socialist  Library 

20  Volumes  on  Socialism  Worth 
$5,  only  $2.95 

If  you  want  to  learn  all  about  So- 
cialism buy  the  Appears  Socialist  Li- 
brary of  20  Volumes  for  only  $2.95 — 
a great  bargain.  This  library  con- 
tains: 

1.  Tactics  of  Socialism. 

2.  Socialism  and  Social  Reform. 

3.  Hardie’s  Socialist  Epigrams. 

4.  Socialism  Versus  Anarchism. 

5.  Socialism  for  Millionaires. 

6.  Religion  of  Capitalism. 

7.  Proletarian  Dictatorship. 

8.  How  to  Organize  Cooperatives. 

9.  The  Life  of  Debs. 

10.  The  Money  Question. 

11.  Appeal  to  the  Young. 

12.  Story  of  a Chicken  Yard. 

IS.  Man  Under  Socialism. 

14.  A Trip  to  Plutopia. 

15.  Fight  for  Your  Life! 

16.  Communist  Manifesto. 

17.  Questions  About  Socialism. 

18.  The  Socialist  Appeal. 

19.  Prison  Letters  of  a Socialist. 

20.  Socialism  of  Jesus. 

1500  Pages  of  Socialist  Reading 
$2.95  for  the  20  Volumes. 
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Idle  Thoughts  of 
an  Idle  Fellow 

“These  “idle  thoughts”  are  interest- 
ing. Their  simple  philosophy  is  just 
what  the  average  person  is  seeking. 
Jerome  makes  ordinary  observations 
with  which  every  one  is  familiar,  and 
draws  conclusions  from  them  which 
hardly  any  one  ever  thought  of  draw- 
ing. The  humor  and  common  sense 
of  these  random  essays  make  them 
especially  delightful.  And  the  sub- 
ject which  Jerome  chooses  for  his 
“idle  thoughts”  are  those  things  of 
common  life  that  interest  every  one 
— the  things  that  ail  of  us  like  to 
read  about  it  and  that,  for  some  rea- 
son, very  few  writers  write  about. 

Appropriately  enough,  the  first  essay 
in  the  book  is  “On  Being  Idle.”  Did 
you  ever  seriously  reflect  what  it 
means  to  be  idle?  Weil  Jerome  finds 
that  it  brings  more  trouble  and  dis- 
comfort than  anything  else,  and  quite 
humorously  he  tells  of  his  idle  pre 
dicaments  and  dilemmas.  “On  Being 
in  Love” — ah,  there  is  & topic  that 
certainly  catches  every  eye. 

35  cent*  per  copy. 

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Confessions 

Of  an  Opium  Eater 

Thomas  DeQuincey,  in  addition 
to  being  a stylist  of  the  first  order 
and  a literary  genius  whose  fame 
never  dims,  was  addicted  to  the 
habit  of  eating  opium. 

In  this  book,  entitled  “Confes- 
sions of  an  Opium  Eater,”  the  au- 
thor tells  how  he  came  to  become 
the  victim  of  this  habit,  how  it 
acted  on  him  and  how  he  fought 
it.  In  all,  here  is  one  of  the  most 
astonishing  books  in  the  English 
language. 

This  volume  is  a classic.  Never 
were  the  finer  reactions  of  the  hu- 
man mind  and  soul  more  carefully 
and  accurately  recorded.  This  story 
of  soul  degeneracy  is  a human  doc- 
ument and,  at  the  same,  a tre- 
mendous work  of  literary  art. 

The  Appeal  has  just  issued  a 
new  edition  of  this  128-page  book, 
neatly  printed  on  fine  book  paper 
and  handsomely  bound  in  boards 

Price:  25  cents  per  copy. 

APPEAL  TO  REASON, 
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10  Volumes  of 
Epigrams 

We  have  ready  for  immediate 
distribution  a set  of  ten  volumes, 
which  we  call  “The  Appeal's  Epi- 
gram Series.”  In  this  set  you  find 
the  following  titles: 

1.  500  Epigrams  of  Wit  and  Wick- 

edness, 

2.  Maxims  of  La  Rochefoncanld. 

3-  The  Thoughts  of  Pascal. 

4.  The  Proverbs  of  Japan. 

5.  Voltaire’s  Pocket  Theology. 

6.  Thoughts  and  Aphorisms  of 

George  Sand. 

7.  lngersoll*8  Epigrams. 

8.  The  Proverbs  of  France. 

9.  Epigrams  by  Keir  Hardie. 

10.  The  Proverbs  of  England. 

This  is  the  only  set  of  epigrams 
that  can  be  had  in  America  at  the 
present  time.  These  nicely  gotten 
up  volumes  are  worth  many  times 
more  than  we  ask  for  them.  Rush 
your  order. 

$1.50  for  the  10  Volumes. 
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Sex  Life  In 

Ancient  Greece 
and  Rome 

This  book  contains  two  important 
essays,  as  follows:  “The  Greek 

View  of  Woman,”  by  G.  Lowes  Dick- 
inson, and  “Marriage:  and  the  Ro- 
man Lady,”  by  W.  Warde  Fowler, 
M.  A.  The  essay  on  Greece  tells  of 
Plato’s  views  favoring  the  elimina- 
tion of  family  life  entirely,  Grecian 
standards  of  morality,  Athenian  the- 
ories of  eugenics,  the  Homeric  view 
of  woman  and  sex,  Aristotle’s  views, 
and  the  position  of  illicit  love.  The 
essay  on  Rome  tells  what  the  Romans 
thought  about  marriage,  the  form  of 
the  sacramental  ceremony,  an  accu- 
rate description  of  a Roman  wedding, 
divorce  customs,  etc. 

We  have  many  books  on  the  mili- 
tary history  and  statesmanship  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  but  there  are  few 
books  on  the  domestic  relationships 
of  the  ancients.  Here  is  a book  that 
has  been  badly  needed.  The  infor- 
mation in  it  will  interest  and  enter- 
tain you. 

25  cents  per  copy. 
APPEAL  TO  REASON, 
Girard,  Kans. 


ttcJZeasm 


Published  Weekly. 


A paper  that  believes  that  the 
workers  should  receive  the  full  social 
value  of  their  labor. 


A paper  that  champions  democracy 
In  industry  as  well  as  in  politics. 

A paper  that  advocates  competition 
tn  the  production  of  ideas  and  coop- 
eration in  the  nroduction  of  things. 

A paper  that  tells  the  truth  about 
conditions  that  exist  in  this  country 
mid  presents  the  remedy  in  words  that 
cannot  be  misunderstood. 

A paper  that  fights  for  the  right  of 
free  speech,  free  press  and  free  as- 
semblage. 

A paper  that  kindles  hope  in  the 
tiearts  of  the  downtrodden  and  in- 
spires fear  in  the  hearts  of  the  labor 
exploiters. 

A paper  that  stands  for  the  rights 
of  man  as  above  the  rights  of  prop- 
erty. 


$1  per  year. 
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MMI 


'MM 


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iT*.? 


